BEFORE: Starting that clean-up work tonight, if I didn't clear this film off the list now, I'm not sure I ever would. It might be difficult for me to circle back to Burt Reynolds again, unless I tracked down some very obscure films like "Sharky's Machine" - so the films that I do have on hand need to get crossed off now. I'm having an "everything must go" sale.
Burt Reynolds carries over again from "The Last Movie Star".
THE PLOT: A popular NASCAR driver clashes with the fried chicken mogul that sponsors his racing team.
AFTER: It's just a silly, stupid racing comedy, but I see so many missed opportunities to do other things with it. Of course there are racing stunts (crashes) and it's so clear that it was made from the POV of a couple former stunt-men - Hal Needham and Reynolds, who usually made better films together, or at least funnier ones.
Stroker Ace is a womanizer, of course, because that's all who Reynolds was - but there's no attempt to really change him or improve on his habits, because maybe that's impossible. Him falling for the virginal Pembrook Feeny does not count as character development, it's just him chasing the unattainable, the forbidden, it just doesn't seem like it's for the right reasons, just his own. You just know that once he gets her in bed, he's going to lose interest, so what are we really doing here, just enabling another serial bad boyfriend, I guess. Really, anything here that would have shown that he's trying to do relationships better would have helped.
Look at how he wanted SO badly to get to Pembroke when someone with an air-hose blew her skirt up, Marilyn Monroe style. I'd like to think he was trying to get across the track to defend her honor, or stick up for her, or tell some un-enlightened pit crew member that this wasn't cool, that women have the right to not be sexualized or put on display, but no, he was probably just desperate to get another look at her in her underwear. It's sad. He displays a bit of personal growth later in the film where he only partially undresses her when she's passed out, but there's no credit given for that. Are we supposed to champion him just because he doesn't rape her? That's called just being a decent human being, however it's still way too close to sexual assault.
There was a chance here to do something with Jim Nabors' character, too - he's a NASCAR crew chief who also likes to sing, but knowing what we know now, why couldn't he have been the first or only gay NASCAR crew chief? Was the world not ready for that in 1983? Maybe, I don't know, but it's another chance for a storyline that could have gone somewhere, made the world a little better, but nope, there's just no time, we've got to get in another racing scene.
This could have been a much funnier comedy if they decided to poke fun at NASCAR, the organization and the rules and the attitude of the drivers, but no, somebody just wanted to put Burt Reynolds in a chicken costume and have him fill some sponsor's car with wet cement and call it a day. I guess America wasn't ready, or they just had to wait for "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" to really do the NASCAR comedy that everyone wanted. You can kind of see a bit of Stroker Ace in Ricky Bobby, that "If you're not first, you're last" mentality.
But they REALLY overplayed every joke and sight gag here, like they had the young boy Stroker Ace primping his hair in the rear-view mirror while his friend's father was trying to speed away from the cops, and then they cut to Burt Reynolds doing the same in the present. But did we need to see the kid do it THREE times? No, we did not, once would have been plenty.
And the early appearance of Elvira is just WAY confusing, like the movie couldn't even be bothered to explain who she is or what her deal is or why she's dressed this way. Why even HAVE her in the movie if you're just going to brush her aside with no follow-up? Was she supposed to be a goth girl, or a race-car driving fan, or just some weirdo with her boobs hanging out? And now that we know she's a lesbian, it's really weird to see her hitting on a gay man when she can't seem to attract the attention of Burt Reynolds' character. I know the 80's were a weird time but this whole interaction does not make any sense.
The ad tagline "Fastest Chicken in the South", which Stroker did NOT like having painted on his car also made no sense. Like, is the chicken served fast, or is it cooked quickly? I prefer to have my chicken completely cooked, even if that takes a little longer. Or is it the fastest-growing chicken franchise? It's very unclear what the sponsor intended. And why did Stroker hate it so much? There could have been another flashback of him as a kid with a bunch of bullies calling him a "chicken", that might have helped explain this point. They also never explain why Stroker is seen at the start of the film driving a car on just three wheels, with Jim Nabors hanging out of the car to counter-balance the missing wheel. Seems like that would be a good story to tell, but we never get even a hint of it.
Look, I really don't know much about car racing, even after watching "Days of Thunder" and "Gran Turismo" and "Ford v Ferrari" and maybe a few others. In so many ways, this was made at a different time, and the cars that they used in racing just look like regular cars to me, like one drives a Buick Regal on the track, for chrissakes. Why not Corvettes and Camaros or Porsches and Ferraris? Was this some kind of tribute to the days of moonshiners, when regular people had to escape from the police in very regular-looking cars? Is it at least a souped-up Buick Regal or was there some racing rule against that? Compared to the cars that are used in NASCAR today, these races from 1983 look like some kind of demolition derby with old clunkers, I just don't get it. If I wanted to see an Oldsmobile Cutlass race against a Buick Regal and a Chevrolet Monte Carlo, I'd go hang out at a bingo hall near a senior center and watch everyone race home to go to bed at 7 pm.
Directed by Hal Needham (director of "Hooper" and "Hard Time: Hostage Hotel")
Also starring Ned Beatty (last seen in "I Am Burt Reynolds"), Loni Anderson (ditto), Jim Nabors (last seen in "Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed"), Parker Stevenson, John Byner (last seen in "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"), Frank O. Hill, Cassandra Peterson (last seen in "Cheech and Chong's Next Movie"), Bubba Smith (last seen in "Gremlins 2: The New Batch"), Warren Stevens, Alfie Wise (also last seen in "I Am Burt Reynolds"), Hunter Bruce, Cary Guffey (last seen in "Spielberg"), Neil Bonnett (last seen in "Days of Thunder"), Harry Gant (ditto), Dale Earnhardt, Terry Labonte, Benny Parsons, Kyle Petty (last heard in "Cars 3"), Tim Richmond, Ricky Rudd, Cale Yarborough, Bill Connell, Bill Dollar, Chris Economaki, David Hobbs (last heard in "Cars 2"), Ken Squier, Bill Brodrick, Donna Fowler, Linda Vaughn, Debbie Casperson, Valerie Mitchell, with cameos from Hal Needham (also last seen in "I Am Burt Reynolds"), Richard Petty (also last heard in Cars 3"), Jerry Reed (ditto).
RATING: 3 out of 10 hidden clauses in a contract
No comments:
Post a Comment