Prime Time: The Dukes Of Hazzard (2005)

There were two movies made in the mid-2000s that were based on TV shows that were, in turn, based around a car in a starring role. Well, two that I can recall, off the top of my head. Starsky & Hutch was the first, in 2004. The second was this one. It's not really a surprise to find that both were reworked for comedy. It's also not really a surprise, for those who know how easily pleased I am, that I tended to enjoy both. What IS surprising is that this film turned out as well as it did, considering who was involved in front of the camera.

Mind you, with taste being as subjective as it is, the very people I enjoy seeing in this movie may be the very reason that others never want to see it, and think it should be consigned to the bargain bin section of Hell. And if you're already thinking that then you should probably not rush to see it.

Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott play Luke and Bo Duke, the rough 'n' ready heroes of our story. Well, they are the characters that we tag along with, and they are the humans who look set to put a spanner in the works of any plan by 'Boss' Hogg (Burt Reynolds), but the real star is the General Lee, the car that Bo uses to cause vehicular carnage and stay one step ahead of pursuing baddies, or those wanting to shoot Luke because of his unchecked libido.

Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar (of Broken Lizard fame), this works well because of good casting, gags that range from decent to groan-inducing, and a number of sequences that allow for some great car stonework. You also get appearances from many of the other Broken Lizard troupe members, which helps.

Written by John O'Brien, the script manages to retain the essence of the show thanks to the way it uses the main characters, even while twisting them all slightly to up the comedy quotient. Knoxville and Scott may not be your favourite actors, and may not be absolutely perfect in these roles, but they're a decent fit for a couple of moonshine-running lads who can always try to excuse the irritation they cause with a big grin and air of childishness.

The rest of the cast fit just as well, whether it's Jessica Simpsons turning heads as Daisy Duke, Burt Reynolds as the villain of the piece, M. C. Gainey as his main henchman, who also happens to be the local Sheriff, and Willie Nelson as Grandpa. There are also fun turns from David Koechner, James Roday (playing a cocky ex-resident of the county back to take part in a local race), an underused Lynda Carter, and one or two others.

The soundtrack has some great selections, the chase sequences are genuinely entertaining, and the plot feels like the kind of thing that could have happened in a feature-length episode of the show, which is sometimes the best you can hope for from a movie reworking a beloved TV show from the past. This may not be the best film that anyone here is involved with, but it's fun stuff, nothing more, nothing less.

6/10

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City Heat (1984)

Perhaps they weren't at their highest height, but in the early '80s you would struggle to find two cinematic superstars more iconic than Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds. Don't get me wrong, we still had plenty of cinematic icons alive and well, but they weren't seemingly at the peak of their powers, whereas Burt and Clint absolutely were. One was The Bandit, and also just Burt, one was Dirty Harry, and so many other memorable characters. Which makes the idea of City Heat a no-brainer.

This was Tango & Cash five years before Tango & Cash, with the added move of making it a period piece, for reasons I still can't quite fathom (although I admit that a couple of fun gags stem from the whole prohibition-era restrictions).

Eastwood is Lieutenant Speer, Reynolds is a private detective named Mike Murphy. The men used to be partners but it's clear from the opening scenes that there's no love lost between them. Murphy has a partner who has unwitingly gotten himself in too deep with some mobsters, Speer is keeping a detached eye on the situation, mainly by keeping an eye on Murphy.

Directed by Richard Benjamin (who I knew as an actor, mainly from the Saturday The 14th films, but was unaware that he has been behind some fun movies, including The Money Pit, Mermaids and My Favourite Year), and written by Blake Edwards and Joseph Stinson, City Heat is a film symptomatic of many that want to pair up two superstars without really knowing how best to use them. There's simple fun to be had just watching any exchange between the fast-talking Reynolds and the much more laconic Eastwood, and there are some good gags here and there (a running joke about hidden alcohol being one, the other involves Eastwood having a supply of larger and larger firearms), but that's about all this has going for it, which is a great shame for all involved. The script should have been full of better lines, the plotting didn't need to seem so convoluted, and there should have been more thought given to creating set-pieces that could involve the two leads.

Eastwood and Reynolds both do very well, and both are much better than the material they have to work with. Jane Alexander and Madeline Kahn are also very good, playing two women who may be inadvertently dragged into the whole dangerous mess. Tony Lo Bianco and Rip Torn play the two mob bosses at odds with one another, and Richard Roundtree, Irene Cara, William Sanderson, and Robert Davi are among the other familiar faces joining in.

Having not seen City Heat since I first watched it on VHS when it was released in the 1980s, I wondered if it would be better or worse than I recall. It turns out that, despite the age of the film and the much older age of myself, I feel pretty much the same way about it as I did way back then. I'll be interested to hear how others view it.

5/10

Having never really been given any special treatment on disc, I recommend picking City Heat up with this set.

American fans can pick it up on Bluray here.

April Fools: Silent Movie (1976)

One of my favourite shots in any film ever!

It does exactly what it says on the tin. Oh yes, Silent Movie is a silent movie, for the most part (only one person gets to speak, and it's a brilliant punchline), directed by Mel Brooks, who co-wrote the film with Ron Clark, Rudy De Luca and Barry Levinson.

The plot is a brilliant slice of meta fun, as Brooks, accompanied by Marty Feldman and Dom DeLuise, convinces a studio to let him make a silent movie, and then sets out to convince a variety of big stars to appear in his silent movie. That's the excuse for one set-piece after another, from going to great lengths to talk to Burt Reynolds, to keeping things perfectly balanced in James Caan's trailer while trying to get him on board. As the film starts to look more and more appealing to those in the business, a rival studio sends out a secret weapon to scupper the whole thing, the lovely Bernadette Peters.

For film fans, this is almost as enjoyable now as it was nearly 40 years ago, when first released. The comedy, as you could probably guess, is pretty universal and timeless, and it's only some of the stars who may be slightly unfamiliar to modern audiences (even if I do dislike the thought of a world in which people don't recognise Anne Bancroft, Burt Reynolds, or Paul Newman).

Brooks and DeLuise are very funny, but Feldman is the highlight for me. The man can be funny even when not playing with material, and I thank Brooks for giving him two great movie roles (with this and Young Frankenstein). A bit of praise, however, must also be given to those stars already mentioned, as well as everyone else who joins in with the fun.

Although the movie is little more than a loosely connected series of sketches, the format allows for this without it ever feeling like a major negative. Many silent movies were broken down into a number of different acts, of course, and this feels just the same.

If you're a fan of Brooks then you should enjoy this. If you're a fan of comedy then you should enjoy this. In fact, most people should enjoy this.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Mel-Brooks-Collection-DVD/dp/B000AM6NCM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391351938&sr=8-1&keywords=mel+brooks

Smokey And The Bandit II (1980)

I know that I can often be sarcastic in my reviews. I can also sometimes be apologetic. There are moments of anger and occasional moments of rambling nonsense (okay, let's be honest, there are more than occasional moments of rambling nonsense . . . . . . . . . it's actually my preferred writing style). But I hope that people don't mistake the following for sarcasm or nonsense or even something that I'm going to apologise for. Smokey & The Bandit II is a bloody good movie, slightly superior to the first film and just a whole load of laughs in the company of great characters.

All of the main characters return, though not in exactly the same condition. Burt Reynolds is The Bandit, Jerry Reed is Cledus AKA The Snowman, Sally Field is Carrie AKA Frog, Jackie Gleason is Sheriff Buford T. Justice and Mike Henry is the witless Junior. Even Big Enos (Pat McCormick) and Little Enos (Paul Williams) return, if only to start things off with a job offer. Nobody wants alcohol moved this time. It's something much bigger than that. And much livelier.

Hal Needham is back in the director's chair and actually shows some skill he would seem to have hidden away for the majority of his career. The car stunts and action are, as you would expect, competently handled but this has a lot more to it than JUST fast cars and a load of chuckles.

The Bandit enjoyed showing off, he loved doing what he was best at, and he was/is very famous because of it. But that fame has changed him in ways that he doesn't want to inspect too closely and certainly doesn't want to admit to. He's been surrounded by the adoring fans, he released the unsuccessful song, he was a name synonymous with legendary deeds. And then he wasn't. The Bandit is stuck in a sad place, wanting to reclaim former glories while random people feel the need to tell him just what an asshole they think he is. And when he grabs an outspoken guy to try and show him the error of his ways, holding the man by the collar and insisting that he is an American sweetheart and a lovely guy and that everyone loves him, it's hard not to think of the reaction that any famous person can have when the fame, and the fandom, starts to dwindle. It's hard not to think that The Bandit is voicing something every actor could be tempted to yell out at one point. In fact, it's hard not to think that The Bandit is just saying something that Burt Reynolds himself may have felt at one time or another.

Perhaps I'm reading too much into the whole thing. Everything else in the movie is just fantastic, simplistic entertainment. Jackie Gleason, once again, gets all of the best lines and moments as the exasperated sheriff. Reynolds, Reed and Field all get on well and are joined by Dom DeLuise, giving a fun performance. And there's a finale that puts The Bandit in the heart of a scenario he almost yearns for before showcasing some truly excellent stuntwork with cars and big trucks. Many of the bigger stunts are "gags" but they're still impressive and you get a real feeling of danger from this mad display of demented driving. It was great to watch when I was a young lad and, although I had my reservations, it's just as great to watch now.

8/10.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smokey-Bandit-Trilogy-Burt-Reynolds/dp/B00099BIS0

Smokey And The Bandit (1977)

I don't think it's unfair of me to start this review by saying that Hal Needham isn't really a great director. His background in stunt work showed through more than any technical aptitude or eye for any great moments of pure cinema but I also don't think it's unfair to say that he created some filmic fun while having plenty of laughs with regular star Burt Reynolds (who takes the lead in this movie, the sequel, the two Cannonball Run films and also Hooper). Smokey And The Bandit kept me entertained when I was a lad and my tastes were simpler and unrefined. It's a crude, juvenile film moving from one car stunt to the next and yet it remains entertaining in a way that makes you remember how you piled up all of your toy cars as a kid and got shouted at from your parents when they stood on a displaced wheel or side door.

Burt Reynolds is The Bandit, aided and abetted by his mate Cledus AKA The Snowman (Jerry Reed). The Bandit has accepted a bet to pick up and deliver a trailer full of beer over county lines within a pretty tight time limit. He will distract the police and scout ahead while Cledus drives the truck. Things get trickier when The Bandit picks up a runaway bride (Sally Field) and doesn't realise that she is being pursued by the jilted groom (Junior, played by Mike Henry) and, more importantly, his father (Sheriff Buford T. Justice, played brilliantly by Jackie Gleason). It's full pedal to the metal as The Bandit and The Snowman (with Frog now in their group) try to stay one step ahead of every Smokey on the route.

When I was a young lad the things I liked about Smokey & The Bandit were the following:
1) The Pontiac Trans Am, which (I thought at the time) was the best, coolest, fastest car ever.
2) The banter between Reynolds, Reed and Field.
3) Any scene with Sheriff Buford T. Justice being made to look foolish and berating his dumb son.
4) The dog that was sharing the truck cab with The Snowman.
5) The car stunts.
6) Little Enos (Paul Williams) and Big Enos (Pat McCormick).

But now I'm older, a man of the world with different tastes and an appreciation of finer cinematic fare. So, is there anything to like about it now? Well, the direction by Needham and the script, based on a story co-written by Needham and then developed by a few different folk, remain as disposable as I thought they were before I'd reached my teens. Yet the rest still works. I still love the car, though I now realise that it's not the best, coolest OR fastest. The banter is still fun. Sheriff Buford T. Justice is still a highlight, though I have no idea who the hell came up with lines like the following: "There's no way, no way that you came from my loins. Soon as I get home, first thing I'm gonna do is punch yo mamma in da mouth!"
The dog is still sweet, the car stunts are still enjoyable and sometimes impressive and the interaction between Little Enos and Big Enos is still amusing.

Which means that, all in all, I still enjoy Smokey & The Bandit for all of the same reasons that I used to enjoy it. It's held up surprisingly well, better than The Cannonball Run (for example), and remains a fun chase movie with Burt being a superstar and the stuntwork with cars, bikes and big trucks making up most of the better moments.

7/10.

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