Mediocre race movie

Rating: 5/10 (13 June 2010)

Silly, insignificant and most of all forgettable screwball action/comedy; principally made to further cash in on the success of the "Smokey & the Bandit" movies with largely the same cast and crew. The concept is actually a complete rip-off of the obscure but totally awesome so-called 70's carsploitation classic "Cannonball", directed by Paul Bartel and starring David Carradine. There's a bunch of eccentric people participating in an illegally organized cross-country race from to New York to California. That's pretty much everything. The rest of the film jumps back and forth between the large variety of characters and their crazy encounters along the way. The main polestars are macho man J.J. McClure (star Burt Reynolds) in his ambulance, his jolly chubby sidekick who transforms into superhero Captain Chaos, two heavy-drinking gamblers dressed up as priests in a Ferrari, a spoiled rich boy convinced he's Roger Moore and two voluptuous babes in a Lamborghini. "Cannonball Run" was probably the most fun to make and (re-)watch for all the major stars involved. They're clearly having a terrific time hanging out with each other, both in front and behind the camera. The list of famous names is impressive, with apart from Reynolds and Moore also Farrah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie Chan, Adrienne Barbeau and Peter Fonda. They're enjoying themselves, but it's not like they're giving away great performances. The only fantastic performance comes from Jack Elam as the totally deranged and crazy-eyed doctor Van Helsing. The film contains a disappointingly small amount of car stunts and/or action sequences. The aforementioned "Cannonball" is a lot better, also because it features more sarcasm and black humor whereas this film continuously remains politically correct.