Smokey and the Bandit

One of the first films to tap into the anti-authoritarian aspects of the Citizen's Band (CB) radio craze, "Smokey" is basically a movie-length car chase and a pleasantly insipid slice of late-'70's Americana.

The tissue-thin plot has good ole boy pals The Bandit (Reynolds) and Cletus (a surprisingly good Jerry Reed) running a load of Coors cross-country on a tight deadline while trying to avoid an assortment of less-than-bright cops, led by pompous blowhard Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason). Sally Field, as a runaway bride who thumbs her way into Reynolds' car, brings charm and a welcome sense of irony to the macho proceedings.

Stunt coordinator-turned-director Hal Needham stages the action competently, and the actors, who supposedly improvised much of the dialogue, obviously enjoy themselves. A good choice for those who want to relive the glory days of CB rebels, long sideburns, plaid western shirts, and black Trans-Ams with "screaming chicken" decals on the hood. Avoid the two vastly inferior sequels.

The plot is silly, and the audience gets that from the start as ridiculously dressed tycoon "Big Enos" hires "The Bandit" (Burt Reynolds) to bring back a truckload of Coors beer to Georgia, which was illegal to ship anywhere but regionally at that time. The Bandit enlists his trucker friend Cledus (Jerry Reed) to help him on the endeavor. The trip to Texarkana to get the beer is easy enough. But the trip back is quite harrowing and hilarious. It starts when a runaway bride (Sally Field as Carrie) stops Bandit in the middle of the road in need of a ride. What Bandit does not know is that Carrie walked out on her wedding to the department store mannequin like son (honestly, Cledus' Bassett hound Fred has more personality) of Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason). So Bandit thinks he is being pursued across country because of his speeding and reckless driving, maybe because of the beer, but never does it occur to him the sheriff is after his new passenger.

This is just a delightful road picture made authentic looking with tons of anonymous extras playing truckers, ladies of the evening, workers and customers at roadside diners, and teens just looking to do some mischief while listening in on their CB radios. There are also some great songs and Jerry Reed's musical talents are not wasted. About the CB radios - they were a fad in the mid 70s made that way by a 1975 hit entitled "Convoy", and they were the only way to communicate to other drivers on the road in the 1970s. There would not be an internet in common use for another 20 years and cell phones would not be ubiquitous for another 30.

So be prepared to be transported back to a simpler time when there were not tiny cameras tied to cell phones everywhere, air bags did not exist, gas mileage was not an issue, and the era of "zero tolerance" had not occurred yet. Oh, and the role of profane but persistent Buford T. Justice started a bit of a film acting renaissance for Jackie Gleason, who had always had a presence on TV but had been absent from the big screen awhile.

This movie,as far as I know,never won any special honors.It perhaps is not listed as one of the top 1,000,000 movies of all time.It may not be considered by many to be a great film,but I (and I am not ashamed to admit this),love this movie.Perhaps it is the charm exuded by Burt Reynolds and Jerry Reed.Perhaps it is the beautiful Sally Field(she never looked better on film).Perhaps it is the comic genius of Jackie Gleason.Perhaps it is all these things rolled into one.This is the absolute "king" of redneck comedy movies(and I use the term "redneck" with the utmost affection).I am a fan of great films,but I have my guilty pleasure movies as anyone has. This one tops my list of those.Love it!

I guess one reason I love this movie is because it doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is. It doesn't aspire to great movie-making. It was just supposed to be 90 minutes of entertainment on the big screen, and it's still entertaining. Take your brain off for a while and have fun with it.

There are hilarious lines, some funny pratfalls and even a bit of home-grown wisdom: "How ignorant you are depends a lot on which part of the United States you're standing on." Or something like that. I get a kick out of watching the convoy/rocking-chair scene every time. Makes me wonder how in the world they got around Birmingham, but that's suspension of disbelief for you. LOL.

Wish director Hal Needham had remembered that Alabama State Troopers drive Fords, not Pontiacs, but that's a small thing. My dad remarked on it every time, though.

It's just cornball entertainment, rare enough these days. Pop some popcorn and have a blast watching it.

I grew up in the south as a teen in the 70's and this movie was the South at that time. It was all about CB radios. I remember when my dad got one in his 1972 cherry red Chevy Impala. He had this big ol' whip antennae on the back and his CB handle(name) was Midnight(because he worked the night shift at Pan Am airlines). I think part of the reason Smokey was such a huge hit was threefold. First off, we were going thru an energy crisis and the age of muscle cars was over and most of us were driving around in small pieces of crap like the Chevette or the VW Rabbit! The thrill of seeing a muscle car like the Pontiac Trans Am tearing across the land was a huge thrill! Secondly, the country as a whole was in a malaise of the "Me Generation"..and all the self-help crap! People were listening to soft-rock like Helen Reddy and John Denver and taking self-help courses like est! People wore earth-tone colors and sandals. So when we saw these 'real-men" like Burt and Jerry Reed in thier plaid shirts and tight jeans, taking on the establishment by disregarding the rules of the road and all that, we got excited! Finally, the sheer delight in seeing people enjoying life was a thrill we all wanted to partake in! I can see why so many people, who were bored with life in the pre-disco late 70's, really enjoyed the escapism of this simple but extremely fun flick! We wanted to be a part of it! It was late-night chocolate we never admitted to eating. It was a movie you partly felt dumb to admitting you liked! But the movie itself inspired the hugely popular TV series Dukes of Hazzard, right down to the cast. Burt and Jerry became Bo and Luke Duke..Sally turned into a Daisy(with better legs!) and Sheriff Buford T. Justice became Boss Hogg with his bumbling sidekick Sheriff Roscoe B. Coltrane! And of course the Trans Am was replaced by a true muscle car, the 1969 Dodge Charger (was thier ever a better muscle car than the 69 Charger?) What followed in the aftermath of this movie was the explosion of disco and letting oneself enjoy life again! The whole world got back into living life and having fun! Maybe Smokey had something