Quite simply, "Cannonball Run 2" is the best movie I've ever seen. However, before you dismiss me as some crack-addled fiend, unable to discern a good movie from my own rectum, allow me to defend my rather bold statement. First, a little history. The original "Cannonball Run" was made during a period I like to call "Burt-Madness," that is, when thousands of our nation's ladies were swooning over the ultimate cool that is Burt Reynolds circa "Smokey and the Bandit". As such, "Cannonball Run" was able to capitalize on this popularity rather easily. Hey, and putting Farrah Fawcett into the picture didn't hurt either.
"Cannonball Run 2" doesn't have those immediate strengths, it was made in the early eighties, when innumerable teen idols had (unjustly) eclipsed Burt's popularity. The man, as he shall now be called, had fallen onto semi-hard times; he was forced to make "Stroker Ace," a good movie, but certainly not "Burt" caliber. At any rate, Burt was not the idol he once was, and this is evident in the first scene of the sequel: his paunch is visible and his tan is fake, although not George Hamilton-fake. He's a man with weaknesses now, and that's what makes his performance in this movie so spectacular. He's willing to go beyond, to accept the unbelievable as believable, etc.
His first lines confirm these statements. His faithful sidekick, Victor Princie (played ably by Dom DeLuise), asks him if their current business, stunt flying, is a good idea. Burt just laughs, mugging shamelessly for the camera. "Are you kidding," he responds, "we're going to be rich, we"re going to make so much money!" It is my belief these lines could also apply to this movie. Burt KNOWS he's over-the-hill, that he's not the idol he once was, so he's willing to degrade himself, to engage in unbelievable acts, SO LONG AS HE GETS PAID. Yep, it's all about the benjamins baby. Brilliant.
Lest you think I'm just interested in Burt's transition from idol to
has-been, I'll engage in critiquing the rest of the movie. Brilliant. Basically serving as a repository for all the jokes not used in the original, "Cannonball Run 2" follows the same course as its predecessor, although considerably more time is given to plot development. We see Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, pursued by mobsters and forced to join the cannonball to pay off debts. We witness Mel Tillis and his new partner, Tony Danza, convince a long lost uncle to let them borrow a car for the race. The uncle agrees, provided they take with them a menacing and abusive orangatuan, once again proving the thereom, "any movie where monkeys give the finger is a good movie." (NOTE: Mel Tillis's partner in the original movie was Terry Bradshaw. It's almost as if, the producers knew they weren't going to be able to convince him to join in this madness again, so they got the next best thing, Tony Danza and a monkey. Perfect. A lot of the movie seems to obey this principle, if you can't get the original, get the next best thing)
At any rate, the movie speeds along as the contestants vie for the lead in the race. Burt convinces a few cops that Sammy and Dean are sick and twisted flashers, Sammy convinces the king, Frank Sinatra, to help them out. Yeah, I'm omitting a lot of details, but that's because there are way to many in this movie, which, if you think about it, isn't really a movie at all, but a collection of moments, hilarious moments between people who like to work together. The most priceless of which has to be a short interlude involving the Red Skelton, as Freddy the Freeloader, and Sid Caesar. After Red regales Sid and his buddy on how he once caught a fish, a picture of which weighed 11 pounds, Sid's buddy whispers not-so-softly to Sid, "I really don't like him." Doesn't sound funny, but trust me, it is. The same could be said for this entire movie. Yeah, it's a tired old sequel to some half-baked movie. But still, it works.
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