"Soon as I get home, first thing I'm gonna do is punch yo mamma in da mouth!
"
Hal Needham's 96 minute road chase classic takes place in 1977 when it was illegal to transport Coors Beer East of the Mississippi River without a permit by the liquor laws and tax regulations, whereas it's not required today, so it therefore is not a contemporary tale, despite seemingly being a comedic version of "Vanishing Point" (1971) since reckless driving is still something the protaganist is certainly guilty of throughout this film which takes place mainly on the highway with just a redneck sheriff, a risk taking driver, a typical southern trucker, and a runaway bride to be carrying the movie. And that says a lot for this low budget drive in comedy which competed with "Star Wars" in May & June at the box office, failing to eclipse it's revenue with a phenomenal $126,737,428 in the country upon its' first release.
Burt Reynolds was already well known to audiences with such films as "Deliverance" (1972) and "The Longest Yard" (1974) under his belt, but his role here as truck driver Bo 'Bandit' Darville had just the care free attitude everyone liked. Kinda like the guy whose being berated but just nods and smiles carelessly throughout, though still being bright. He and his friend Cletus 'Snowman' Snow (Jerry Reed/RIP: 3/20/37-9/1/08) are offered $80,000 (today's equivalent of $270,000) by rich Texans Big Enos Burdette (Patrick McCormick) & his son Little Enos Burdette (singer/songwriter Paul Williams) to truck 400 cases of Coors Beer from Texarkana, TX to Atlanta, GA in 28hrs for a "Southern Classic" car rodeo. Naturally, he accepts as he's done such things before, though on much smaller scales. Burt maintains his cool throughout, and therefore doesn't change at all by film's end in attitude or outlooks on things, though it's alright because it was the right type of character to leave be without being dynamic at all, like Johnny Depp's 'Jack Sparrow' from the "Pirates" trilogy who doesn't change in any way whatsoever over the course of the 433 minute saga.
Jackie Gleason (RIP: 2/26/16-6/24/87) made a career comeback from his "Honeymooners" days here as racist redneck Sheriff Buford T. Justice who pursues Bandit & Snow on their cross state escapade, despite that his authority is nullified after crossing county lines, let alone state ones. However, his simple minded son 'Junior' (Mike Henry) is riding shotgun in search for his runaway bride Carrie (Sally Field), and therefore they continue their unlawful pursuit of Bandit whilst searching for Carrie. And while Jackie may be playing a stereotypical redneck sheriff whom expresses his racism in the film, he's still funny for successfully performing the stereotype, rather than just because we'd typically find such a person's perverse views laughable. Plus you get to feeling for Smokey's frustrations as the chase drags on, which increases his likeability a lot. Considering that he also has his dimwitted son riding along with him, then there's even more comedic redderick from the character which makes him unique in comparison to other villainous characters like him in the car chase genre of films.
Sally Field was also well known at the time in the television series "Gidget" (1965) & "The Flying Nun" (1967), though this was only her third film, and it was the most memorable of the three since this was the most successful of them. Plus her role as Carrie was nothing impressive, nor dull, as she just reminded me of a more matured version of Carol from "American Graffiti" (1973) as the same pairing occurs here, with the inexperienced thrill seeker riding shotgun with the pro who wants nothing to do with her. Except the pairing here wasn't as entertaining and because she's older, then Bandit would be more than willing to mess around!
While there are plenty of car crashes and smokeys pursuing Bandit on the highway, the entertainment comes more from Jackie Gleason's increasingly fed up personality as fellow highway patrol officers [smokeys] take him less and less seriously as his patrol car becomes more and more damaged from the quadruple state chase. Also comical is the relationship that Bandit inexplicably has with every trucker on the highway, as well as teenage fans cheering him on with signs and flags as he passes through their towns. This is all possible because of the CB Radio system that trucks were equipped with which Bandit & Snow communicate with, as does Smokey when he finally catches on to what's actually going on besides a high speed chase.
The southern soundtrack throughout the film is also entertaining as it's fast paced and enjoyable. Even co-star/country singer/musician Jerry Reed scored a #2 hit with the song "East Bound And Down" which was featured in a big chase sequence. The rest of it was scored by Bill Justis (RIP" 10/14/26-7/15/82), whom also picked the remaining songs in the movie, as well as made the score match up perfectly.
Overall, this low budget quick drive-in flick became an international phenomenon in summer '77 for the car chase genre, and car lovers in general as unlike many installments of the genre, this film still stands tall after 32yrs in circulation, and it's unlikely to fade in popularity anytime soon.
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