Runtime:
98 minutes
Directed
by: Buzz Kulik
Starring:
Burt Reynolds (RIP), Dyan Cannon, Joe Santos, Larry Block, Ron Weyand
From:
Columbia
This
was not a bad way to pay tribute to The Bandit...
My way of tipping my cap to the late Burt Reynolds is by seeing a
movie I've known of for years now and has a character named COLONEL
HARDCORE.
As I've mentioned in other reviews, I've been seeing
Burt Reynolds movies since I was a little kid so his passing on Thursday
definitely made me sad. As I had reviewed a decent number of his movies
already I went with one new to me. This is a detective tale where Burt
is the titular Shamus, a dude who lives in a shabby apartment and sleeps
on a pool table, and pool halls are among the grimy places he hangs out
at. He's the sleazy kind of guy who kills time waiting for a suspect to
leave a business by having a quickie with a random woman he meets! Yet
Burt's charm makes this cad enjoyable.
The case: a rich guy hires Shamus as his diamonds were stolen from a house late at night... note that the perpetrator was “extra” as he doesn't commit this heist using firearms to kill the guy and his girl... no, this is done with a flamethrower! Naturally, the chase proves to be about much more than just those diamonds; with the help of colorful characters such as Springy (a gangly dude who constantly spouts out the most random of sports trivia) he realizes this mystery has high stakes (there usually is an undercurrent of a mean streak throughout) and he often runs into people that try to strike him dead. At least he meets Dyan Cannon... along with John P. Ryan as the amazingly named Colonel Hardcore.
I am not sure if I understood everything about the plot; admittedly, that can be said about a few legendary mystery pictures from the past. At least I thought this was good overall, a fun tale where we follow a street smart lead as he engages in some cool action beats and is accompanied by Jerry Goldsmith, who did a 70's fusion jazz score, of all things. Burt (RIP to him) did not always have great taste when it came to choosing his movies; I am glad I saw one that was worth seeing and was not a disappointment. This did demonstrate something that I've always known: his considerable star power, which explains why millions found his passing a tragedy.
The case: a rich guy hires Shamus as his diamonds were stolen from a house late at night... note that the perpetrator was “extra” as he doesn't commit this heist using firearms to kill the guy and his girl... no, this is done with a flamethrower! Naturally, the chase proves to be about much more than just those diamonds; with the help of colorful characters such as Springy (a gangly dude who constantly spouts out the most random of sports trivia) he realizes this mystery has high stakes (there usually is an undercurrent of a mean streak throughout) and he often runs into people that try to strike him dead. At least he meets Dyan Cannon... along with John P. Ryan as the amazingly named Colonel Hardcore.
I am not sure if I understood everything about the plot; admittedly, that can be said about a few legendary mystery pictures from the past. At least I thought this was good overall, a fun tale where we follow a street smart lead as he engages in some cool action beats and is accompanied by Jerry Goldsmith, who did a 70's fusion jazz score, of all things. Burt (RIP to him) did not always have great taste when it came to choosing his movies; I am glad I saw one that was worth seeing and was not a disappointment. This did demonstrate something that I've always known: his considerable star power, which explains why millions found his passing a tragedy.
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