University of South Carolina Libraries
I By David Baker Him Critic Before I get very deeply into this very negative review, I think I should mention that the original C I I * I r-? lit in iorriUKK^ unu iriK UUIIUU is one of my all-time favorite films. Inspired moviemaking it wasn't, but Burt Reynolds' charm, Sally Field's smile and Jackie Gleason's razor-sharp way with a line made the story of I two truckers and their 28hour, 18-wheel attempt to pick up a truckload of Coors beer in Texarkana and bring !| it back to Atlanta without H being caught into one of the most delightful junk-food H movies of the past decade. IT/iin r\i\/\rvl /c\ IfM/vitf if Knf A cw IVUUW U, UUl Smokey received a welldeserved Academy Award nomination for Best Editing in 1978, and its quarter-of-abillion dollar boxoffice gross AJi'j ?c fnof omnnf f a fVin fo nf fV\of I io ivo\AOkiiiv^iiv IU uic iati 111ai millions of people consider it to be the best car chase picture ever made. So what went wrong with Smokey and the Bandit II? Darn near everything, that's pppM Mike Henry and J what. The leading players (Reynolds, Field, Gleason, Jerry Reed. Mike Henrv. I Paul Williams and Pat McCormick) and the director (Hal Needham) are all back - at least physically -- but the off-the-wall goodnaturedness displayed by them in the original has been replaced by a sumgness that is at all times off-putting. This time around, the ICoors in the truck has beer replaced by a pregnant elephant and it's the job of Bandit (Reynolds) and Snowman (Reed) to get her j Sally Field wi kpu's( ? mm ^ from Miami to Dallas in time for Big Enos (McCormick) and Little Enos Burdette (Williams) to present her to the governor of Texas as a GOP Convention present. The fast fame Bandit gained bv making the previous run, however, has made him a self-centered alcoholic who is incapable of driving a car across the street, much less 2,000 miles. In hopes of bringing Bandit back to his old hard-driving self, Snowman enlists the aid of Bandit's long-lost love, Frog (Field). It doesn't matter to Frog it a n . 11 mai snowman s can comes as she is waltzing down the aisle to marry pinheaded Junior Justice (Henry) again, so she's soon stealing Junior's car to make the trip to Miami, with Sheriff Justice (Gleason) hot on her tail. That Frog and Justice make the two-day trip in the time it takes Bandit to grab a quick shower is only the first example of the don't-worry. because-r.o-one-will-notice attitude that permeates the piciure. ackie G/eason as bumbling Other examples includ< the following: Little Eno pays Bandit $200,000 ii advance, but Frog must sel i Junior's car in order to mak< the down-payment on a ne\ Trans Am because Bandi has no money; Dom DeLuis (who plays the elephant' t gynecologist) is allowed t speak in an Italian accent s thick that he sounds like h i has a mouthful of mozarella i Bandit, Snowman and Fro get to Mississippi fror Florida without ever passin I through Alabama; and in th car-crunching finale (whic :|H| ? HI th Burt Reynolds in 'Smokt jquel c looks like it was composed of outtakes from the Blues Urnfhnrc \ rfnTonc nf 10QA A^ftUUlV&O/) U\/?iVllD VIA JLi7kJ\J Pontiacs inexplicably turn into early model Plymouth Furies and Dodge Monacos seconds before they are destroyed. But all of these goofs seems mild when compared with the fact that there is almost no chase footage in the entire picture. I'd estimate that 90 percent of the first Smofeey took place on the highway, whereas Needham has seen fit to situate 90 percent of the sequel on me road. We see Bandit, Snowman and Frog stop to pick up the doctor, stop to check on the elephant, stop to hear Don Williams perform in a honky-tonk, stop to camp out and stop to argue among themselves, but we almost never see them between stops. It's inconceivable that a director would set out to make a car chase movie without a car chase, but that's exactly what Needham has done with Smokey II. ???&~vr';':-?y.' ... ' r officers on Bandit's trail. e The movie seems to exist s for the sole purpose of n promoting a country music 11 soundtrack album. No e matter what is happening v (or not happening) onscreen, t the audience is forced to e endure an endless string of s the most tuneless hillbilly o ditties ever imagined, all of o them with (inane) lyrics! e The soundtrack of the ; original film featured a g handful of pleasant songs by n Jerry Reed, but the rest was g simple background music, e Here, each and every tune h has words and that make ' * 4 ?& >. ':v:: IS ?V:v::V: :V || H i ^ \ I ^ fy and the Bandit II' i disaDDG Ml Ml The other technical aspects of the film, I'm sorry to say, are just as bad. Michael k Butler's cinematography is Hfc grainy and virtually every interior and night shot is poorly lighted. HHhl V The costumes designed for Field by Bob Mackie are gorgeous, but we're never told how an out-of-work dancer could afford such creations. It there was a script used in Smokey II, I couldn't find it. pa^Wfc^h: Unexpectedly, the acting in the picture is on par with everything else. Reynolds has never been so unlikeable |HHPp in a film, and Field has % never had so little to do. J" Only Gleason and Henry seem to be having any fun |||!|||HH|| with their roles and, con- | H sequently, they're the only ones who are able to f > generate any laughs. B Sffr * ? At 95 minutes, Smokey II ' ftNgP is virtually the same length ?| - X' as its predecessor (which was 97 minutes long), but IXm' t that's the only aspect of the Z. '< original it comes close to There are several words that could be used to p . describe a movie as bad as C ^ \ Smokey II, but I'm afraid most are unprintable. Suffice it to say that critic mt ^ < John Simon's favorite ft ^ > saying, "Downward, there is ! no limit," has been proved Burt Reyno wrong. Charlotte. if f t > Outlet Welcon Game* r* ? t i ! Drapes > (48x63" CSi 48x84") 1 owels Bed Pillows ! 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