When I was a young tyke there were certain movies that were a staple of my childhood. These are flicks I'd go out of my way to watch every time I learnt they were going to be playing on the television over the weekend. The Cannonball Run was such a movie and you can't deny that it's mix of Ray Stevens' memorable title song, cool cars, lukewarm stunts, hot chicks (Adrienne Barbeau and Tara Buckman who use their "charms" to get out of multiple speeding tickets - easily unzipped tight bodysuits helps too), and goofy hijinks would hold enormous appeal for a pre-pubescent lad.

But how does it hold up today? Is there still something in stuntman-turned-director Hal Needham's lowbrow comedy that could possibly appeal to modern film viewers who are weaned on a diet of American Pie-type comedies? Can we still handle a cast that's filled with so many familiar faces and (at the time) sex symbol Burt Reynolds going through the slapstick motions? The answer is surprisingly, yes. This is completely harmless stuff that gets a lot of fuel from the good-natured tone of it all. It's way better than the lousy sequel that followed in 1984 - and let's just ignore 1989's Speed Zone, which has been passed off as the third entry in various countries.

Reynolds plays J.J. McClure, the owner of a delivery company and car lover who decides to team-up with his best friend Victor (Dom DeLuise) to enter a cross country automobile race where the contestants have to travel from coast-to-coast and end-up in California in order to win a cash prize. Along the way they have to deal with other entrants, various roadblocks, and the police. After trying to figure out the best vehicle to take (Reynolds character states early on, "we could get a black Trans-Am, nah that's been done" as an in-joke to his previous car themed flick Smokey And The Bandit) they decide upon an ambulance recruiting a quite nutty doctor (Jack Elam) and kidnapping, in a round-about way, a nature loving reporter played by Farah Fawcett (who was still riding on the success she gained on TV's Charlie's Angels).

Also along for the ride are various stereotypes and miscreants such as a pair of con men posing as priests (Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr.), a pompous Brit who's convinced he's James Bond (Roger Moore, who's supposed to be playing himself), some Japanese racers in a super computer car, a group of "good ole' boys" in a pick-up, an Arab sheik (Jamie Farr) and various other entrants.

With such a big cast this means that scripter Brock Yates has to try and pack-in enough jokes for everyone and while a few of them don't work terribly well there's a lot more chuckles than groans on hand. Yates even throws in a fight scene with some bikers seemingly for the Hell of it and fills his screenplay with politically incorrect puns that probably wouldn't fly in this much too conservative day and age. Probably the more ironic thing about the script is that there's not really that much driving footage at all - odd for a movie about such a thing.

As for our larger than life cast Reynolds and DeLuise actually make a good pair even if DeLuise gets to go over-the-top when his character dons his "alternate persona" as the cape wearing "Captain Chaos", Fawcett makes for alright eye candy, and the rest of the veteran cast seems to be having fun (even though Martin looks bloated and drunk at all times - I understand his character is supposed to be a heavy drinker, but perhaps he took it too literal). This also contains an early American appearance by martial arts pro Jackie Chan. But the movie truly belongs to Elam who steals every scene he's in with his constantly sniffling, bug-eyed doctor.

The Cannonball Run delivers exactly what you'd expect it to and manages to be entertaining while doing it. It could've probably used a few more scenes of people tearing along the highway but it makes up for it with its dopey tone, game cast, and a batch of funny bloopers in the end credits (something that become common in comedies and probably started here).

Director Needham and star Reynolds previously teamed-up on Smokey And The Bandit and Hooper and would follow this up with stock car racing comedy Stroker Ace. Scripter Yates apparently based this movie on the real-life event he organized first in 1971 and also wrote the first Smokey film. All three of them, and much of the cast here, would reunite for this movie's sequel. (Chris Hartley, 12/5/07)

Directed By: Hal Needham.
Written By: Brock Yates.

Starring: Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise.