You'll root for them all...but you'll never guess who wins.
1981-06-19
$18.0M
95 min
A cross-country road race is based on an actual event, the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, organized by Brock Yates to protest the 55 mph speed limit then in effect in the U.S. The Cannonball was named for Erwin G. "Cannonball" Baker, who in the roaring 20's rode his motorcycle across the country. Many of the characters are based on ruses developed by real Cannonball racers over the several years that the event was run.
Though some of the wheezes employed by the drivers do raise a smile or two, this really doesn't catch fire as Burt Reynolds' brand of mischievous charm struggles to hold it together. He and his pal "Victor" (Dom DeLuise) are determined to win the eponymous, infamous and illegal transcontinental dash - and hit on the idea of commandeering an ambulance so they can blue-light their way across their country. A synch, surely? They are not the only contestants, though, and Roger Moore is also intent on a bit of debonaire skulduggery with his very own Aston Martin - yep, that very one; whilst a couple of priests in a red Ferrari (Sammy Davis Jr. & Dean Martin) do their utmost to "bless" their way to the winning post. It's a star-studded affair with Peter Fonda; an entertaining, if fleetingly used, Jackie Chan and Farah Fawcett all in there too to complement some scene stealing scenes from permanently out of it doctor "Van Helsing" - Jack Elam, but the story soon starts to tire as it becomes a sort of live-action version of "Whacky Races" tinged with a few "Carry On" double-entendres. The "Rat Pack" contingent look like they are just along for the fee and Fawcett adds little but her usual degree of fluffiness as the damsel not really in distress. It's not a patch on "Smokey and the Bandit" (1977) though there are some fairly obvious cop-baiting similarities and by the end it has largely fizzled out. It has it's moments, just nowhere near enough of them until the bloopers reel under the credits.
