Speed Zone (1989)

AKA Cannonball Run III. Or not.

Originally devised as a third Cannonball Run movie, Speed Zone has to settle for being a very poor distant relative to the first two movies. Thankfully, it has a role for the very likeable John Candy and that saves it from being completely unwatchable. That's not to say that, for some reason, those involved don't keep trying to make as many bad choices as possible.

The plot is as slim as it was in the previous Cannonball Run movies (that this isn't actually a sequel to but we all know that it is, really). A race across the USA allows drivers to drive various cars at illegally high speeds and everyone involved really wants to win. End of central premise. Of course, people have different motivating factors and skillsets. Matt Frewer, for example, plays a man who keeps trying to win by using his wiles as well as his driving skills. John Candy is just a nice, steady guy who reflects that in his driving style, with the lovely Donna Dixon overacting badly as his passenger. Eugene Levy may not actually drive in the race but his double-decker hairdo deserves at least some kind of consolation prize.

Directed by Jim Drake, and written by Michael Short, there just isn't enough of anything here to please fans of, well, anything. The cast includes those already mentioned plus Peter Boyle, The Smothers Brothers (two men I took an immediate dislike to, I'm afraid), Melody Anderson, Shari Belafonte, Tim Matheson, Art Hindle, Brian George, Joe Flaherty and then cameo roles for Jamie Farr, Brooke Shields, Michael Spinks, Alyssa Milano, Carl Lewis, Lee Van Cleef and some others. The automobile action isn't all that exciting, although one or two stunts do stand out as high points. Then we have the comedy content, which isn't all that great in terms of quantity and quality.

I suppose the biggest failing with Speed Zone in comparison to the Cannonball Run movies is summed up thus: The first two movies featured stars of yesteryear having a lot of fun together with one or two new faces joining in with the fun. This movie features a number of relatively "new" faces having fun with one or two stars of yesteryear joining in. That shouldn't be enough to make this such a bad movie but it is. It highlights just how much great chemistry, charisma and goodwill was thrown onscreen during the first two movies.

If you're an obsessive completist then you'll still want to get a hold of this but I don't recommend it (and I'm the guy who bought Jaws: The Revenge on DVD because I had the preceding three movies).

4/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cannonball-Candy-Brooke-Shields-Region/dp/B003JNTCP4/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1336394781&sr=1-1

Spies Like Us (1985)

When Spies Like Us first came out I remember that I rented it numerous times, running home with that chunky VHS box in my pre-teen hands and looking forward each time to the antics of Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase sparking off each other onscreen. And then I was always disappointed by the slow build-up and the flat patches in between the decent moments of comedy, even at that early age.

So it's no surprise to learn that the film turns out to be just the same nowadays as it seemed way back then. The story is a simple one. Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd are two government employees who think that they're being given a chance to be spies when, in actual fact, they're nothing more than decoys while the valued spies get on with their duties. This leads to numerous situations in which our inept leads find themselves way out of their depth and with their lives on the line.

Based on a screenplay by Dan Aykroyd, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, Spies Like Us is clearly inspired by the Bing Crosby/Bob Hope "Road" movies and works well as a tribute. Chevy Chase is the fast-talking, bumbling half of the duo while Aykroyd is actually pretty smart and simply unequipped for a mission which the two men have not been expected to complete in any event.

Director John Landis paces things almost exactly as he paced Trading Places, except this time around there are less big laughs in the comedic moments and so the movie feels slower and "flabbier" despite a runtime of just over 100 minutes. Highlights include a selection of scenes showing our duo going through intense training, a sequence in which the two try to pass themselves off as doctors and a finale that features the funktastic sound of "Soul Finger".

Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd play to their strengths, you'll know already if you love or hate them, and the rest of the cast includes such luminaries as Steve Forrest, Donna Dixon, Bruce Davison, Bernie Casey, Frank Oz and, as this is a Landis movie, a number of cameos from the likes of Terry Gilliam, Ray Harryhausen, Joel Coen, Sam Raimi and many others.

Oh, and to end on a little bit of trivia, the "see you next Wednesday" that was a Landis trademark in many of his movies is seen on an army-related poster in the office of Colonel Rhumbus (played by Casey). 

6/10.

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