The End

Burt Reynolds throws himself in front of and behind the camera in this 1978 gem of a comedy. Not the best comedy that year, but far from the worse. Reynolds may have bit off more than he could chew by directing and acting all in one, but the final product was funny enough for cinemas. Still, without Dom DeLuise, this movie would be far from watchable. It is DeLuise that saves this movie. At sometimes dark, The End mixes mild comedy which delivers this Woody Allen (who wrote the original script) type story. DeLuise is nothing but brilliant as the lovable, yet crazy friend of Reynolds. This movie is nothing but fun. Not the best movie, but a nice story with an interesting cast of characters. However, if this movie was re-edited the movie would have been better told. The movie changes once Dom DeLuise is introduced. The first half of the movie has its funny moments, but it is not until the second half do we start to truly laugh. A better Editor could have saved this movie by cutting the timeline up to have most of the first half as a flash back. For starters, I would have started the movie at the half way point where we find Reynolds waking up from attempted suicide. Then have his character going back in time to reflect on what occurred following up to his arrival in the nut house. That way, we could welcome Deluise earlier to the movie and give the Reynolds character more of an appreciated back story before we arrive at the central transition. Before Reynolds arrives to the beach, i would have his final flashback be of his daughter where we get to the climax of his final decision. All in all, a good movie worth watching.

This was, without a doubt, the most hilariously comic performance that the brilliant Dom DeLuise had on film. When, in the midst of a depressed "woe is me" rant, he looks up and asks "Do you think we'll ever switch to the metric system?", well, it just don't get no funnier than that. His botched suicide attempts, as well as his eagerly wanting to help Burt with HIS suicide, oh heck, just go rent it yourself! You'll love it.

Burt was brilliant too. He holds a thin line between wanting to die and wanting to live that is believable. It's a real shame that this movie often gets me blank stares when I tell others about it. More people know about Four Weddings and a Funeral (a movie so horrid that I still refuse to watch another Andie McDowell flick) than this quiet classic. (sigh)

"The End" is a black comedy that should have been even darker. Had it been I think it would have been regarded as a classic. Burt Reynolds stars as a man who finds out he's dying and decides he's going to kill himself. After a lackluster start where Burt sees his parents, his daughter, etc., he goes into action. And that's when the film buckles down and takes control for the last half.

After a failed suicide attempt Burt is placed in a mental hospital where he meets fellow patient Dom DeLuise, who is as nutty as a loon. Dom decides to help Burt fulfill his dream of suicide and the laughs keep coming. Dom is so good in this film that we really miss him every time he's off screen. Burt is good in the film and has a classic moment at the end when delivers an impassioned soliloquy to God. That is worth the price of admission (or video rental), if you see it in its un-cut form.

Burt Reynolds was one of the great action and dramatic stars of the 20th Century. He was also hysterically funny. This movie about a very serious topic-a man dying and coming to terms with the Knowledge-is very funny. Dom Deluise is hysterical and a great partner for Reynolds. Sally Field plus the straight role with Grace. The supporting cast is very good-Norman Fell as the Dr and Robby Benson as the young priest. The comedic direction is masterful in the underrated, now classic comedy. This holds up well.

Best remembered for the last half-hour involving Burt Reynolds, as a dying man with less than a year to live, and Dom DeLuise, whom he meets at an insane asylum after an unsuccessful suicide attempt: Crazy Dom's given the personal task to kill Burt so he doesn't have to do it himself...

Before the human cartoon zaniness is a satisfying, darkly comedic hour where Reynold's character, a formerly shady insurance scammer, Sonny, meets with a young priest (Robbie Benson, basically playing, Robbie Benson as a priest) who's more curious about Sonny's sins than a confession...

Followed by his flaky lover played by Sally Field, who, having never looked hotter, as he tries for a good old fashion "pity f---", has more annoying house cats than desire.

Then he visits his ex wife with her Latin lover; then beloved daughter (Kristy McNichol) who he walks through a colorful park; and his parents, veterans Myrna Loy and Pat O'Brien, each oblivious to the impending doom...

The beginning provides a hilarious moment as Sonny's handed down the horrible news by his doctor (Norman Fell) while staring into a large aquarium, an obvious improv by Reynolds who can be quite funny reacting to things around him: including an odd looking fish and later on, his ex wife's gigolo/lover and a noisy cat in Field's shabby home...

The fast-paced third act in the seemingly tranquil insane asylum with Burt and Dom's schizophrenic Marlon Borunki, who tells Polish jokes while holding back tears when we first meet him, has some funny moments...

But it's Sonny's initial journey to find something to live and/or die for that really works, providing Reynolds an opportunity to wield both comedy and pathos throughout the bleak story-line...

Since we meet Sonny right after he's handed down the news, we never get to know the jerk that made commercials selling lakeside properties without lakes, cheating on his wife with hookers, or ignoring his teenage daughter...

Yet these traits seep out of the dying Sonny, and at the same time, a new man emerges. Despite coming across as a subdued Archie Bunker, using words like "beaner" without a second thought...

He's someone you'll dig hanging out with during the ninety minute odyssey. And it takes a versatile actor like Reynolds could pull off such a flawed human being and make him so likable and humorous.