The Cannonball Run

Rating: 3/10 (30 October 2011)

I knew two of the stars of this road based movie, but I was surprised it was quite an all star cast, I knew it wasn't rated very well, but I was looking forward to at least trying it, from director Hal Needham (Smokey and the Bandit). Basically this sees various contenders as they take part in the big illegal Connecticut cross-country road race, and they are all keen to make it to the finish line first and scoop the prize. The teams are: J.J. McClure (Burt Reynolds) and Victor Prinzim (Dom DeLuise) with his alter ego Captain Chaos in an ambulance, Englishman actor or spy Seymour Goldfarb, Jr. (Sir Roger Moore) who poses as movie star Roger Moore (so he is essentially playing a James Bond mock version of himself) in an Aston Martin DB5, Jamie Blake (Dean Martin) and Morris Fenderbaum (Sammy Davis Jr.) in a Mercedes 280 SEL sedan, Jill Rivers (Tara Buckman) and Marcie Thatcher (Adrienne Barbeau) in black Lamborghini Countach, Jackie Chan and Michael Hui in a Subaru GL hatchback, Terry (Terry Bradshaw) and Mil (Mel Tillis) in a Chevrolet stock car, and The Sheik (Jamie Farr) in a white Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. Obviously as it is an illegal race the police are chasing after the teams they can, but also new participants join some of the racers, such as the oddball Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing (Jack Elam), photographer Pamela Glover (Razzie nominated Farrah Fawcett), and a Chief biker gang leader (Peter Fonda). After so many attempts to speed things up on their cars, near misses with the police and trying to find ways to stop the other racers, in the end there ins't really a clear winner. Also starring Bert Convy as Bradford Compton and Bianca Jagger (Mick's daughter) as Sheik's Sister. I may have giggled at the antics of Moore, when he was at the height of his Bond status, and it was nice to see stars like him, Reynolds, DeLuise, Martin, Davis Jr. and Chan trying to be funny and create some kind of new live action Wacky Races laughs, but I can completely see why it is two stars out of five, it is not funny or original, and you are not even bothered about the winner of the race, a silly action comedy. Adequate!