The Cannonball Run

The Cannonball Run (1981)

Runtime: 95 minutes

Directed by: Hal Needham

Starring: An all-star cast, including Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr.

From: Golden Harvest

This movie was a big hit at the time; perhaps it doesn't play as well today but I still can't hate it: 

To be frank here, such things as nostalgia (I saw this movie a few times as a kid) and the cast full of famous faces helps The Cannonball Run when it comes to me saying this was fine. The plot is rather threadbare, a lot of the humor is pretty juvenile, stereotypes are all over the place, some women were apparently cast mainly due to their bra size (and Farrah Fawcett never wears one for the entirety of the picture), the focus seems to be on big stunts-naturally for Hal Needham-and there are such things as Lebanese Jamie Farr playing a sheikh and both Jackie Chan & Michael Hui (heck, their character names are their real names) play JAPANESE racers who drive in a Subaru full of technology. I am pretty sure they speak Cantonese the entire time... to think that Golden Harvest made this. I am sure many people would love to forget how badly Hollywood bungled the first attempt to make Chan famous in America; at least he had another chance to and the second time (even w/ some awful American movies) was much better.

Based on the real life Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash (held a few times in the 70's), a bunch of characters compete in a race across the United States, lasting approximately 3,000 miles-a little more than 4,800 kilometers-and some of the teams competing in the film were based on real life racers who competed in the Trophy Dash. The all-star cast and their charms definitely helps, even if some are playing to their real life personas (Sammy Davis, Jr. loves to gamble, Dean Martin imbibes plenty of alcohol) or there are odd decisions... Roger Moore plays a rich Jewish man named Seymour Goldfarb Jr. who thinks he is... Roger Moore and 007, accompanied w/ music that is only faintly different from The Bond Theme. I understand Eon Productions did not find this subplot all that amusing.

Then there is Dom DeLuise who is an eccentric that needs to be a superhero persona of Captain Chaos to do anything successfully. Thankfully that wasn't as stereotypical or cruel as it could have been. This time around I appreciated Jack Elam as Dr. Nikolas Van Helsing-subtle, this movie typically is not-as he provided some solid laughs. I also have to note the soundtrack, which brought together some pretty different elements... Chuck Mangione, Lou Rawls and Ray Stevens; his title song is amusingly disco-riffic.

I just saw someone in a messageboard thread utter, “F--- The Cannonball Run.” I won't fault or argue with anyone who feels that passionately with their hatred of the movie; me, I can say it is fine despite some questionable material. You get to hear both Burt and Dom laugh a few times, and Joyce Kilmer is even name-dropped; the movie correctly identifies the writer/poet as male.