The Cannonball Run (1981)

"Think of the fact that there's not one state in the 50 that has the death penalty for speeding. Although I'm not so sure about Ohio."

Director

Hal Needham

Cast

Burt Reynolds - J.J. McClure

Dom DeLuise - Victor Prinzim

Roger Moore - Seymour Goldfarb, Jr.

Dean Martin - Jamie Blake

Sammy Davis, Jr. - Morris Fenderbaum

Farrah Fawcett - Pamela Glover

George Furth - Arthur J. Foyt

Jackie Chan - Jackie Chan

Jamie Farr - Sheik Abdul ben Falafel
Adrienne Barbeau - Marcie Thatcher

Tara Buckman - Jill Rivers

Terry Bradshaw - Terry

Jack Elam - Dr. Nikolas Van Helsing

Piggybacking off the last star-studded movie I posted about, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," which involves famous people and cars, I checked out another star-studded movie that involves famous people and cars - "The Cannonball Run."

But unlike "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," even with its array of big names, "The Cannonball Run" is a mediocre experience as far as story goes but has a few chuckles here and there. Not many, though. 

In this action comedy, several teams gather in Connecticut to race across the United States. This is in the shadow when the federal government passed the National Maximum Speed Law, which restricted the maximum permissible vehicle speed limit to 55 mph on all interstate roads in the United States back in 1974. It was the federal government's "brilliant" response to the 1973 oil embargo in the hopes it would reduce fuel consumption among motorists. 

The opening credits shows police chasing a Lamborghini as Ray Stevens sings "Cannonball."  The Lamborghini takes time to stop for a moment as a beautiful woman, whom I think is Tara Buckman as the character Jill Rivers, emerges from the car to spray paint an "X" on a 55mph speed limit sign. That pretty much sets the tone for the film. 

The movie follows those teams from beginning to end, in an hour and a half-run time. 

To start with, J.J. McClure (Burt Reynolds) is a famous racer and team owner. He and his chief mechanic and co-driver, Victor Prinzim (Dom DeLuise), decide to drive a Dodge ambulance in the race. However, this meat wagon of theirs is fixed with a NASCAR engine. 

Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise in "The Cannonball Run."

Jamie Blake (Dean Martin) is a former F1 driver and experienced boozer who pairs with his teammate and con-artist, Morris Fenderbaum (Sammy Davis, Jr). Together, they pretend to be Catholic priests and enter the race in a gorgeous Ferrari 308 GTS 1979. 
Seymour Goldfarb, Jr. (Roger Moore), a wealthy British ladies' man, also enters the race. He believes he's actually Roger Moore. And since he thinks he's Roger Moore, famous especially for playing James Bond, he drives an Aston Martin DB5 in the Cannonball Run. Moore's fifth Bond film, "For Your Eyes Only" came out just a few days after "The Cannonball Run." 

Anyways, two gorgeous bombshells, Jill Rivers (Tara Buckman) and Marcie Thatcher (Adrienne Barbeau), take to the run in a black Lamborghini Countach. 

Also, a young Jackie Chan and some other guy, played by Michael Hui, drive a computerized Subaru DL 4WD hatchback with a rocket booster engine.

Mel Tillis and Terry Bradshaw (yes... *the Terry Bradshaw) play a couple of good ol' boys who drive a replica of Donnie Allison's Hawaiian Tropic-sponsored NASCAR Winston Cup Series Chevrolet stock car. I had to Google that because I don't know anything about NASCAR. 

Oh, and Jaime Farr (you know... Klinger from "M*A*S*H") plays filthy rich Arabian Sheik Abdul ben Falafel. He drives a white Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow.

The story shifts from team to team as they speed their way to the finish line, coming across different obstacles and funny situations, and are usually evading police somewhere along the route. 

At the starting line, Arthur J. Foyt (George Furth) along with fellow environmentalist Pamela Glover (Farrah Fawcett) try to stop the race. 

I have mixed feelings about this ride. It's like a hacked updated-for-modern-audiences, Reader's Digest version of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" minus the buried money, and with quicker pace. 

I think the performances are hit and miss. Some of the actors such as Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dom DeLuise are clearly having fun in their roles. Even Roger Moore is enjoying spoofing himself as Roger Moore/James Bond. In fact, throughout the movie, he's seen driving with a different lady without any explanation. There are five girls to be exact, including model Lois Hamilton. I didn't catch on to this gag until somewhere in the middle of the movie.

Dean Martin doesn't seem to be terribly interested in what he's doing. And Burt Reynolds is just Burt Reynolds. As long as he knows audiences are looking at him, that seems to be all that's important. Jackie Chan has a scene where he does what he does best - karate. He's just as impressive and talented now as he was then. 

Dean Martin, Roger Moore, and Burt Reynolds.

"The Cannonball Run" is very much a product of its time. That's especially true with its dated inside jokes about movies.

Aside from Roger Moore's gag, there's a quip about another Hal Needham movie. 

"What about a black Trans-Am? No, that's been done," Reynolds says referencing the 1977 Pontiac Trans Am he drives in "Smokey and the Bandit." 

Despite being a mediocre movie, the legendary status of these big-name movie stars makes the experience a bit more palatable save for Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., pretending to be Catholic priests while acting like womanizing boozers. As much as I love listening to these old crooners sing, especially Sammy, their performances are neither funny nor entertaining. I'm not above a little lighthearted satire when it comes things that pertain to me, such as my being a faithful Catholic. Even then, it can be done with a respectful undertone. Their dialogue and jokes are cheap and tasteless.   

I didn't get a laugh out of anything they did.

Veteran western movie actor Jack Elam plays Dr. Nikolas Van Helsing, "professor of proctology and other related tendencies. A graduate of the University of Rangoon and assorted night classes at the Knoxville, Tennessee School of Faith Healing."

His character tags along with J.J. McClure for some reason. Aside from his comical and unfortunate facial features which he uses to his humorous advantage (kind of like Marty Feldman), his character comes out of nowhere. He's just included to add more comedy in case the rest of it doesn't work. His lines and performance barely add to that. Just his appearance does. 

Despite the weak performances, I still enjoyed the cast and the racing. It manages to somehow pass as a fun movie. My feelings were definitely mixed about the entire experience. If it wasn't for the cast, the movie would be completely forgettable. Time, and the movie's cult following, have been its only friends. 

Director Hal Needham is known for directing "Smokey and the Bandit" starring Burt Reynolds, "Cannonball Run II" starring Burt Reynolds, and "Smokey and the Bandit II" starring Burt Reynolds. 

He also directed "Hooper" starring Burt Reynolds, "Stroker Ace" starring Burt Reynolds, and "Hard Time: Hostage Hotel" starring Burt Reynolds. 

Oh, and he directed the "totally awesome" 80s BMX bike race flick "Rad" starring Burt...I mean... Lori Loughlin. So, Needham has a knack for racing movies. 

Somehow, "The Cannonball Run" managed to get a sequel, "The Cannonball Run II." And many of the celebrity cast decided to return for whatever reasons. More money, probably. Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Jamie Farr, and Jackie Chan all come back for the sequel. Other big-name celebs join in, too, such as Marilu Henner, Telly Savalas, Shirley MacLaine, Richard Kiel and Frank Sinatra. 

Interestingly enough, it's worth noting that the Hong Kong based movie company, "Golden Harvest" produced "The Cannonball Run." Golden Harvest previously produced a variety of Hong Kong action films, especially Bruce Lee movies such as "Big Boss" and "Enter the Dragon." It also had a run of successful comedies starring the Hui Brothers. No wonder Michael Hui appears in this movie. 

It also produced most, if not all, of Jackie Chan's movies. 

In 1980, Golden Harvest began producing films for the international market, and "The Cannonball Run" was one of those movies. It managed to be a hit upon its release. 

I need to mention that Golden Harvest also produced the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trilogy, beginning with the 1990 film. 

"The Cannonball Run" is a movie that only aged well insofar as the cast is concerned. The rest is a mediocre comedy that relies more on the cast and cars than on the jokes. Or, maybe the jokes just didn't age as well as the rest of the movie.