Talladega Knights in a Daytona Daze

 

I gotta say, I am NOT a NASCAR fan.  Next to tennis I find car racing the most boring thing to watch in sports.  I mean, it's just a bunch of guys making left turns... sure, left turns at well over 150 mph, but still... Which makes me probably the only man in the south that changes the channel when NASCAR comes on the TV. So, Stroker Ace, should be something I would avoid... right?

Well, without Burt in the lead role, that might be true.  I still have never watched Days of Thunder or Talladega Nights (of course, the fact that I don't like Tom Cruise or Will Farrell movies is a factor there..) But that also means I have never watched any number of movies that centered on NASCAR as it's basis, including the ones that came out eulogizing Dale Earnhardt.

Stroker Ace has a lot going for it besides the racing however.  I mean... Burt... what can I say?

Despite Reynolds' popularity, especially among those of us who like he-man type heroes with a healthy dose of humor, I have to admit his movies have never been Oscar material. Of course, he did get a nomination for his role in Boogie Nights, but that wasn't a Burt Reynolds movie.

Stroker Ace came along in the early days of the Razzies awards.  If it had been around in the 70's I have no doubt that Burt Reynolds movies would have been in contention for the award.  I am enough of a realist to admit that they aren't exactly the best movies of the year.  But they did often manage to make money, and that is one of the main points for movies in the first place, isn't it?

As far as the Razzies, Stroker Ace got 5 nominations for the award: Worst Picture, Worst Director (Hal Needham), Worst Actress (Loni Anderson), Worst Supporting Actor (Jim Nabors) and Worst New Star (Loni again). It won only one of those (Jim Nabors), and somehow Burt missed out on getting nominated for Worst Actor... I guess John Wilson et. al. doesn't hate Reynolds as much as they hate Sylvester Stallone (who somehow gets on the Worst Actor list every year he puts out a movie,,,)

Besides the headlining stars of the movie, Reynolds along with Loni Anderson, Jim Nabors and Ned Beatty, there is a plethora of cameos by real NASCAR drivers (circa 1983) that you might recognize if you are a NASCAR fan from the time, or you might at least recognize their cars. Even me, as an avowed non-fan recognized Harry Gant's Skoal Bandit car (I did watch sports coverage on the news, after all, even if I never watched a race...)

Among those famous drivers who appear are Dale Earnhardt, Terry Labonte and Kyle and Richard Petty. And those are just the ones I could recognize.  There are quite a few others, including Benny Parsons, Tim Richmond and Ricky Rudd, all playing themselves. In addition there are a few well known announcers who guest cameo as themselves.

Stroker Ace (1985):

Some background is given at the beginning of the film. We see a young Stroker (Cary Guffey) and his childhood buddy, Doc (Hunter Bruce), coming back from play where Stroker has pretty much wrecked a bicycle trying to some stunts with it that one probably shouldn't do with a bicycle. The boys are picked up by Doc's dad, (Frank O. Hill), who is a moonshine runner.  Dad is chased by Feds and thus inspires Stroker to develop a love for racing.

Fast forward to present day. Stroker (Burt Reynolds) is racing to make the start time at a race (in a car with only three wheels...), with his mechanic, Lugs (Jim Nabors). Stroker is a free spirit who doesn't like following the rules, which puts him at odds with his current sponsor, Catty (Warren Stevens).  He ends up crashing early in the race and Catty, tired of Stroker's irrepressible attitude, fires him.

Stroker needs a sponsor to finance his racing, so he ends up taking on a sponsor who is pretty much as irresponsible as he is: Clyde Torkle (Ned Beatty), the owner of a fried chicken chain. the Chicken Pit. Signing a huge contract, without even reading it (it's big enough to give War and Peace a run for it's money in length),Stroker now has his sponsor.

But the contract requires Stoker to do a lot of stuff that he isn't entirely willing to do, including having his car decked out with the slogan  "Fastest Chicken in the South" and making commercials where he has to dress up as a giant chicken. 

Needless to say, Stroker is not entirely happy with his situation, but his contract is iron-clad and he has no legal out for the deal.

Stroker has one nemesis that rivals even his animosity towards his new boss: Aubrey James (Parker Stevenson). Often the race comes down to either Stroker or Aubrey winning a race. (And this despite the fact that there are some real-life NASCAR racers in the race...)

Aubrey drives the #10 car, and one of the best lines in the movie, for me,  is when Stroker is being interviewed by a sportscaster. When asked to sum up NASCAR in a few words, Stroker says:

"Go down to the end of the straightaway and turn left.  Unless you're #10. Then you turn right."

(Needless to say, Aubrey was not amused...)

But Stroker, if anything, is not one to just give up and go along with the flow. He starts doing things that are designed to embarrass Torkle enough to fire him. But Torkle is also not one to give up, and he takes everything that Stroker dishes out, because, after all, Stroker is his meal ticket to the big time; I.e. a nationwide status instead of just a regional chain.

Pembrook Feeny (Loni Anderson) is Torkle's marketing assistant and she tells Stroker he basically has to follow the rules.  Initially she is just interested in Stroker as a client.  She is a goody-goody, doesn't drink and is a virgin Sunday School teacher. so at the outset, Stroker, a ladies man, is at a loss as to how to get her to be another conquest in his side interest: that of bedding the next beautiful girl.

Stroker continues to race for Torkle while trying to figure out how to get out of his contract. Enter Doc (John Byner) who shows up with dad. Doc is now a wannabe actor. Thus Stroker and Doc and dad come up with a plan. Doc poses as an executive for Miller Brewing and makes an offer to buy out the Chicken Pit franchise, but with the stipulation that the deal will only go through if Torkle fires Stroker.

Torkle falls for the ruse hook, line and sinker.  But he tells Stroker that he will back out of the deal if Stroker becomes this year's NASCAR champion.  Stroker, whose ego is bigger than the national debt, has to make a choice: either win and be committed to stay with Torkle for the rest of the contract, or throw the race and lose.

There is only one problem with losing... if he loses it is likely that Aubrey will win. So the only way that he can win and still get out of the contract is if, somehow, he can get Torkle to officially fire him before the end of the race...

Hey, if you don't like Reynolds' typical character in comedies (and let's face, to be honest, his comedic roles were virtually the same), then this one is not going to be a top 10 movie.  Even Reynolds fans, for the most part, couldn't get on board.  It currently holds a 4.9 rating on IMDb, and if you know IMDb you know the fans can skew those ratings much higher than would normally be accorded it.  They certainly didn't come out in droves for it.  It only grossed a little les than $12 million on a $14 million budget... ouch.

The movie, needless to say was not a hit with the critics. It currently stands at 19% on the Tomato-meter, which to the uninitiated, only 19% of the reviews were favorable.  Roger Ebert, who may be one of the least likely people to like this kind of movie has one of the more humorous takes: "To call the movie a lightweight, bubble-headed summer entertainment is not criticism, but simply description".  Phhht, Roger!

I would not rank it in the top 20 of Reynolds movies, and I would probably go with Smokey and the Bandit or The Longest Yard before I would watch it, given the choice.  As far as racing movies, either Cannonball Run or Cannonball Run II are miles ahead of it.  But it is miles ahead of that corker Cop and a Half. And it's a bit better than City Heat (another target of Roger's snarky reviews..) 

This is one of those many movies I saw at a drive-in as opposed to in a walk-in theater, and, personally, when it comes to movies involving cars or motorcycles, I think a drive-in is the best venue. 

Well, folks, the old Plymouth is nowhere near in shape enough to compete in NASCAR.  Hell, it would probably break down if I even tried to get it up to 80, much less 180... But it is time to head home.  Drive safely. (Meaning don't try to pretend you are in a NASCAR race).

Quiggy