Burt Reynolds was the quintessential 1970's drive-in star, and Smokey and the Bandit was one of the most successful movies of the decade. It was the perfect drive-in feature and outdoor theaters play it to this day. Car chases and crashes, cornpone redneck humor, a little bit of romance, and a charismatic lead man all combine to make Smokey and the Bandit a an ideal snapshot of the era.
Me, I wouldn't have watched Smokey and the Bandit unless I had been paid big money to sit through it. I hated redneck culture and I thought the movie looked atrocious. Now I feel differently. While I never will love Smokey and the Bandit, I find it perfectly watchable.
Reynolds made quite a few movies of similar nature. Most were successful, but none topped Smokey and the Bandit. Yes, he was a bankable star, but a lowbrow one. As times changed, better and mores significant roles eluded Burt Reynolds. He still turned in good performances in quality movies. Boogie Nights and Breaking In come most immediately to my mind, but as times and societal mores changed, Reynolds became more of a caricature than a respected thespian.
Which brings me to The Last Movie Star, a vehicle conceived with Burt Reynolds in mind. It's a good movie about a former lead man actor re-assessing his life.
Burt Reynolds plays Vic Edwards, a washed up old actor who is invited to a festival in Nashville honoring his life and career. He is reluctant to accept the offer, but with little else going on in his life, eventually accepts the invitation. The festival is hardly the gala event he envisioned.
First he is picked up by a frantic and troubled young woman in a junker vehicle, then taken to an economy motel. To his dismay he learns that the festival is held in a bar by a group of enthusiastic fans rather than the professional event he expected.
Disgusted and unappreciative, Vic forces his driver to take him to his boyhood home of Knoxville, where he relives events of his youth, all the while confronting uncomfortable aspects of his life and his past.
I loved The Last Movie Star, and found it to be a deeply emotional experience. Reynolds is astonishingly good as Edwards, and the rest of the cast is really good as well. Chevy Chase plays a show business buddy, and there are some genuine laughs as the movie lampoons Chase's own career and reputation. Clark Duke is very good as the fanboy festival coordinator, and Ariel Winter is absolutely wonderful as his frenzied driver.
On the down side, The Last Movie Star is fairly predictable. The movie went where I was expecting it to go, and there were no real surprises. That's okay, in this case it is the journey rather than the destination that counts.
Like The Irishman, The Last Movie Star is an examination of growing old. Aging is a great equalizer, but it might be even harder for those who lived like kings in their prime.
The critics were largely unkind to The Last Movie Star, and once again I am perplexed. All too often they seem to praise fluff and to damn movies that deal with real emotion. I was choked up several times while watching the movie, and after it was over I felt uplifted.
There are movies that serve as capstones for legendary actors. Vincent Price in Edward Scissorhands. Boris Karloff in Targets. The Last Movie Star is such a movie. A dignified and touching performance from Burt Reynolds make it a poignant goodbye from a beloved actor to his fans.
Oh, and a cool detail for horror lovers. Ariel Winter's character is an artist and the work of Clive Barker is used in the movie to represent her work. I thought that was great, even while I am not a big fan of Barker's illustrations.
Written by Mark Sieber
Me, I wouldn't have watched Smokey and the Bandit unless I had been paid big money to sit through it. I hated redneck culture and I thought the movie looked atrocious. Now I feel differently. While I never will love Smokey and the Bandit, I find it perfectly watchable.
Reynolds made quite a few movies of similar nature. Most were successful, but none topped Smokey and the Bandit. Yes, he was a bankable star, but a lowbrow one. As times changed, better and mores significant roles eluded Burt Reynolds. He still turned in good performances in quality movies. Boogie Nights and Breaking In come most immediately to my mind, but as times and societal mores changed, Reynolds became more of a caricature than a respected thespian.
Which brings me to The Last Movie Star, a vehicle conceived with Burt Reynolds in mind. It's a good movie about a former lead man actor re-assessing his life.
Burt Reynolds plays Vic Edwards, a washed up old actor who is invited to a festival in Nashville honoring his life and career. He is reluctant to accept the offer, but with little else going on in his life, eventually accepts the invitation. The festival is hardly the gala event he envisioned.
First he is picked up by a frantic and troubled young woman in a junker vehicle, then taken to an economy motel. To his dismay he learns that the festival is held in a bar by a group of enthusiastic fans rather than the professional event he expected.Disgusted and unappreciative, Vic forces his driver to take him to his boyhood home of Knoxville, where he relives events of his youth, all the while confronting uncomfortable aspects of his life and his past.
I loved The Last Movie Star, and found it to be a deeply emotional experience. Reynolds is astonishingly good as Edwards, and the rest of the cast is really good as well. Chevy Chase plays a show business buddy, and there are some genuine laughs as the movie lampoons Chase's own career and reputation. Clark Duke is very good as the fanboy festival coordinator, and Ariel Winter is absolutely wonderful as his frenzied driver.
On the down side, The Last Movie Star is fairly predictable. The movie went where I was expecting it to go, and there were no real surprises. That's okay, in this case it is the journey rather than the destination that counts.
Like The Irishman, The Last Movie Star is an examination of growing old. Aging is a great equalizer, but it might be even harder for those who lived like kings in their prime.
The critics were largely unkind to The Last Movie Star, and once again I am perplexed. All too often they seem to praise fluff and to damn movies that deal with real emotion. I was choked up several times while watching the movie, and after it was over I felt uplifted.
There are movies that serve as capstones for legendary actors. Vincent Price in Edward Scissorhands. Boris Karloff in Targets. The Last Movie Star is such a movie. A dignified and touching performance from Burt Reynolds make it a poignant goodbye from a beloved actor to his fans.
Oh, and a cool detail for horror lovers. Ariel Winter's character is an artist and the work of Clive Barker is used in the movie to represent her work. I thought that was great, even while I am not a big fan of Barker's illustrations.
Written by Mark Sieber
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