The Cannonball Run

"OK"

The Cannonball Run Review


One weekday morning in 1982, several boys in my fourth grade class, including yours truly, suddenly fell ill and needed to go home from school. Teachers feared an epidemic, and they were right. We had The Cannonball Run fever, and the only cure was not missing its debut on pay cable.

The next day in recess, freshly recovered from our afflictions, we traded reviews, and they were unanimous raves. We all thought the movie was hilarious and kick-ass, and for tween-to-teen boys, it really hit on all cylinders - fast cars racing, dick jokes, fast cars jumping, PG-level sex, fast cars exploding, xenophobic humor, and a big fistfight. This movie had it all.

We didn't know at the time that it was one of several B-movies based on a real-life race. But we did recognize that it was a steaming Jacuzzi of B-list talent, including Burt Reynolds, one of the James Bonds, Farrah Fawcett, two members of the Rat Pack, Terry Bradshaw, Peter Fonda, Jackie Chan, Dom DeLuise, and some people we recognized as regulars from The Match Game.

And we appreciated the story structure, obviously written for an audience of our age and/or mentality: A cast of wacky characters race coast-to-coast in an illegal grand prix, trying to outwit each other, the cops, and an anti-automotive "square" crusading to stop this disgusting spectacle.

As an ensemble piece, The Cannonball Run is all about the characters. Burt Reynolds is at his usual world-class irrepressibility, smart-assing his way out of jams and romancing the lovely Farrah in his wife beater. But he shares lots of screen time with the others, including his sidekick Dom DeLuise, an omega-male who inexplicably turns into a blimpy caped superhero when he needs to drive faster.

Also featured is Chan, as the driving half of a "high tech" Japanese team riding a tricked-out Subaru. Roger Moore bizarrely takes on the role of "Seymour Goldfarb," a rich kid who tells people he's Roger Moore and uses James Bond gadgetry; honestly, I still haven't figured this one out. Funniest but hardest to watch is the team of Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., as a couple of Vegas players who pilot a Ferrari in priest costumes. Martin seems feeble beyond his years on screen, and it's astonishing that he lived another 14 years after the movie came out.

Director Hal Needham got his start doing stunts for a young Burt Reynolds on Gunsmoke, which eventually led to a partnership that produced six movies starring Reynolds and a lot of cars jumping over water hazards - Smokey and the Bandit, Hooper, Smokey and the Bandit II, The Cannonball Run, The Cannonball Run II, and Stroker Ace. (His first true directing job was - surprise! - directing a car chase scene in The Longest Yard, starring Burt Reynolds.)

In The Cannonball Run, Reynolds pilots an EMT ambulance instead of his usual American Thunder, but Needham still exploits every opportunity to do horrible and exciting things to cars. Cars speed through the desert, cars pile up, cars jump into swimming pools, cars crash into hotel lobbies, all without any death or injury. This is a comic romp, after all.

Gratuitous automobile abuse and cameos apparently pay off when marketed to a demographic of boys and rednecks. The Cannonball Run was the fifth highest-grossing movie of 1981, ahead of Chariots of Fire, and it spawned two theatrical sequels. Authenticity was key: Run was scripted by Brock Yates, who allegedly sponsored a totally illegal, real-life coast-to-coast race.

Watching The Cannonball Run today evokes another age before The Fast and the Furious and NASCAR replaced the fun in racing with, respectively, death and science. In some sense, The Cannonball Run embodies what racing is supposed to be: dumb fun with a redneck streak. The aging fourth graders of the world thank you, Burt and Hal.

The DVD contains nothing extra of note, but the bloopers during the credits are classics.



Facts and Figures

Run time: 95 mins

In Theaters: Friday 19th June 1981

Distributed by: 20th Century Fox

Production compaines: Eurasia Investments

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 2.5 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 31%
Fresh: 9 Rotten: 20

IMDB: 6.1 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director:

Producer: Albert S. Ruddy

Starring: as J.J. McClure, as Seymour Goldfarb, Jr., as Pamela Glover, as Jamie Blake, as Victor Prinzim / Captain Chaos, Sammy Davis, Jr. as Morris Fenderbaum, as Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing, as Marcie Thatcher, Lamborghini Babe #1, as Terry, as Jackie Chan, Subaru Driver, Bert Convy as Bradford Compton, Jamie Farr as The Sheik, as Chief Biker, Michael Hui as Michael Ho, Subaru Engineer, as Sheik's Sister, as Mom Goldfarb, Mel Tillis as Mel, as Mad Dog, Tara Buckman as Jill Rivers, Lamborghini Babe #2, Robert Tessier as Biker, Johnny Yune as Talk Show Host, as Female Cop Pulling Over Lamborghini Babes (uncredited)

Also starring: ,

Contactmusic


Links


New Movies

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

After the thunderous reception for J.J. Abrams' Episode VII: The Force Awakens two years ago,...

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Like the 2015 original, this comedy plays merrily with cliches to tell a silly story...

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

There's a somewhat contrived jauntiness to this blending of fact and fiction that may leave...

Ferdinand Movie Review

Ferdinand Movie Review

This animated comedy adventure is based on the beloved children's book, which was published in...

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Director Dave McCary makes a superb feature debut with this offbeat black comedy, which explores...

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

A dramatisation of the real-life clash between tennis icons Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs,...

Shot Caller Movie Review

Shot Caller Movie Review

There isn't much subtlety to this prison thriller, but it's edgy enough to hold the...

Advertisement
The Disaster Artist Movie Review

The Disaster Artist Movie Review

A hilariously outrageous story based on real events, this film recounts the making of the...

Stronger Movie Review

Stronger Movie Review

Based on a true story about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, this looks like one...

Only the Brave Movie Review

Only the Brave Movie Review

Based on a genuinely moving true story, this film undercuts the realism by pushing its...

Wonder Movie Review

Wonder Movie Review

This film may be based on RJ Palacio's fictional bestseller, but it approaches its story...

Happy End  Movie Review

Happy End Movie Review

Austrian auteur Michael Haneke isn't known for his light touch, but rather for hard-hitting, award-winning...

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Seemingly from out of nowhere, this film generates perhaps the biggest smile of any movie...

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

A Victorian thriller with rather heavy echoes of Jack the Ripper, this film struggles to...

Advertisement
Artists
Actors
    Filmmakers
      Artists
      Bands
        Musicians
          Artists
          Celebrities
             
              Artists
              Interviews