Movie review: ‘The Cannonball Run’

Fun flicks are just that: Fun. Don’t worry about plot or emotion except for fun – you won’t find deep meaning (although there are a bunch of wonderful allegories in “Porky’s” … just kidding – click here to read my review). Plus, no one in such a film ever pretends to be in a thespian duel with Chuck Olivier at the National Theatre. So, just sit back and enjoy some watchable fun: The Burt Reynolds-led laughfest called “The Cannonball Run.” It is a prime example of the “fun” genre. Plus, “The Cannonball

Run” has that big cast of a few stars, a few up-and-coming stars and a bunch of Hollywood once-famous but soon-to-be-forgottens who still have a name. Finally, you don’t suspend your disbelief. You suspend any stereotype of a Burt Reynolds film and just enjoy it.

‘The Cannonball Run’
(1981; 95 minutes; rated PG; directed by Hal Needham and starring Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett and just about everyone else in Hollywood in 1980)

DRIVE FAST OR THE SLAPSTICK WILL CATCH YOU

(NOTE: I expanded this review with some additional opinion, updated links and fixed some typos on March 3, 2016. I again expanded the review on May 22, 2018. I again expanded it on Nov. 23, 2022. I again expanded it on July 22, 2026.)

Burt Reynolds’ films can be one of three genres in American cinema: The serious (“Deliverance” or “The Longest Yard” or “Boogie Nights”); the funny but better-than-you-expected (“Smokey and the Bandit” – click here to read my review – or “Hooper” – click here to read my review); and then finally we arrive at the last … the just plain fun. Today’s review of “The Cannonball Run” falls squarely in the third category.

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“The Cannonball Run,” which had its 45^th anniversary on June 12, 2026, has some sort of a plot and I guess that has to at least try on this point, but it’s not really germane to the movie. In the end, “Cannonball Run” has so many great stars that it’s fun just watching them and not really caring about what they’re doing. From Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. to Jackie Chan to Roger Moore doing a parody of his own “007,” this one is mind candy worth enjoying.

“The Cannonball Run” is named for the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash (follow the link to the Wikipedia.com entry for a full description). Unlike the far superior highway race film “The Gumball Rally” (click here to read my review), “The Cannonball Run” tries to tell a story but just comes off as a bunch of guys and a couple of women get out on the road for high-speed hijinks.

Director and former stuntman Hal Needham worked with Reynolds on a number of films, with the best two being the already mentioned “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Hooper.” They also worked together on the miserable “Stroker Ace” (click here to read my review), which is bad but has enough decent moments that you can hold your nose through the rest of it.

With no real plot to worry about in “The Cannonball Run,” I’ll just run down through the impressive cast and how they work it:

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  An Oscar nominee (not for this one), Reynolds, who also did a nice comedic-dramatic turn as the perverted congressman in “Striptease” with Demi Moore and a nice dramatic turn in the critically acclaimed “Boogie Nights” film about the porn industry, is just himself here. He obviously cruises through this one just having fun as “J.J. McClure.” He is off-the-cuff and watchable and I’d say a lot of dialogue here was ad-libbed. You simply can’t ask more from an entertainer. Burt was nominated for “Boogie Nights.” I also liked him in his “Gator” films (no, not because I like my University of Florida Gators – click here to read my review). Further, I thought he did under-appreciated work in the little-remembered comedy-drama “Rough Cut” opposite Lesley Anne-Down and screen legend David Niven (click here to read my review). Burt died at 82 in 2018 of a heart attack.

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  A Golden Globe nominee (not for this one), Dom DeLuise plays “Victor Prinzim,” who is Reynolds’ longsuffering sidekick. DeLuise, who was also in the awful sequel “Smokey and the Bandit II” with Reynolds, does a good job, but doesn’t always keep from laughing at the jokes here. He has also been in “Fatso,” “Hot Stuff” and in the Reynolds-directed film “The End.” DeLuise’s alter ego here is “Captain Chaos,” a cartoonish character so ridiculous that you actually come to like him. DeLuise was nominated for the short-lived TV series “Lotsa Luck” and I enjoyed his small time on-screen in the Doris Day comedy “The Glass Bottom Boat” (click here to read my review). He died in 2009 at 75 of complications from cancer and kidney failure.

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  Moore is delightfully British as he spoofs his own “James Bond” character by playing himself. He even has a different woman (“Bond girl?”) in every scene. He must have had a lot of fun with this one. Roger has a much too-impressive CV to even begin listing them all here or even pointing up some of the stinkers he associated himself with. Moore died in 2017 of cancer at 89.

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  A six-time Golden Globe nominee (not for this one), Farrah Fawcett plays “Pamela,” a tree-hugger who winds up riding along (and is the love interest) for Burt. Fawcett, who was also in “Logan’s Run” as well as her signature role on TV’s “Charlie’s Angels,” for which she earned one nomination. You’d probably be surprised that all five other nominations (four from TV and on film) were for dramatic efforts. She didn’t get a lot of screen time, but was in Disney’s “The Man of the House” with Chevy Chase and Jonathan Taylor Thomas (click here to read my review). Farrah died at 62 in 2009 of cancer.

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  The two strangest performances are by legends Dean Martin as “Jamie Blake” and Sammy Davis Jr. as “Morris Fenderbaum.” Both were in the original “Ocean’s 11” (click here to read my review) and Martin was in “4 for Texas” and the “Matt Helm” rip-offs of “007” including “Murderers’ Row” (click here to read my review) while Davis was in “Porgy and Bess” and “That’s Dancing!” The former Rat Packers dress up as priests to fool cops along the race route and have interesting (read hilarious) run-ins with women and the cops. Plus, keeping in character, they drink like fish (no surprise). Such a great time watching them have fun! Martin won a Golden Globe for his self-titled TV show and had four other nominations, while Davis was nominated for a self-titled TV special. Dino (his birth first name) died at 78 in 1995 of lung cancer and emphysema and Sammy left us in 1990 at 64 of throat cancer.

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  Jackie Chan is here in his second U.S. feature film (the first was “Battle Creek Brawl” in 1980 – click here to read my review) as the driver of the Japanese entry in the race. Chan’s character is only titled “Subaru Driver #1” and he constantly bickers with his navigator. Chan has become a film factory in the U.S. including roles with the “Rush Hour” franchise with the less-than-talented Michael Tucker, “Shanghai Knights” and “The Tuxedo.”

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  Jamie Farr, who was the iconic “Cpl. Max Klinger” in the TV classic “M*A*S*H,” plays an Arab sheik – a character nastily and embarrassingly stereotypical that it is almost not to be believed could make it to the big screen, even 45 years ago. Frankly, Farr should have been ashamed to take the part, but I guess a paycheck is a paycheck. His sister is played by Bianca Jagger, who has less objectionable lines here.

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  A Golden Globe nominee (not for this one), Adrienne Barbeau plays “Marcie Thatcher” and her teammate, Tara Buckman playing “Jill Rivers,” try to use their generous female “charms” to get away from cops (until they run into an equally endowed Oscar nominee (not for this one, but for “Lenny”) Valerie Perrine in an uncredited role as a cop). Barbeau was in “Escape from New York” (click here to read my review) and TV’s “Maude” (she was nominated for her work on that seminal show), while Buckman was in “Silent Night, Deadly Night” and TV shows such as “CHiPs.” I didn’t notice her in it, but Buckman was “Coaster Attendant” in “Rollercoaster” with George Segal (click here for my review). Buckman’s last acting credit was in 1994.

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  Jack Elam plays “Dr. Nikolas Van Helsing” and is the doctor in the ambulance that Reynolds drives (no cop will stop an ambulance, right?). Elam, who was in “Rio Lobo” and “Support Your Local Sheriff,” is excellent as the creepy doctor – but watch out for his middle finger. He died at 82 in 2003 of heart failure.

• Pro football players Terry Bradshaw (who was in “Hooper” with Reynolds) and Joe Klecko have roles here and are basically guys doing guy things. However, since Bradshaw, who was also in “Failure to Launch,” has country star Mel Tillis as a partner, he gets more screen time and he doesn’t disappoint.

Automotive journalist Brock Yates wrote “Cannonball Run” and is the co-founder of the real life “unofficial” race. He also as a small role as the organizer who explains the rules to the drivers at the beginning of the film. Yates died at 82 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.

One of the stunts in the film has Reynolds landing a small plane on a city street as he stops to get some beer (he’s drinking while flying, naturally). You can see the barricades police set up in the city to block off the street for the filming. Also, Burt wears one of his Florida State University hats in the plane (and DeLouise’s character’s name is one-letter off from a Reynolds football friend from his F$U playing days). BTW … I use the dollar sign as a tweak to that university’s long, sordid history of cheating in the football program.

Check it out if you can find it. You won’t have to think much and you’ll enjoy the youthful as well as veteran star power.

“Cannonball Run” did $72.1 million at the domestic box office in 1981 and was the sixth ranked film of the year, according to Box Office Mojo. It was a major success since it was created on a budget of $16 million to $18 million, according to Wiki. The No. 1 film of the year was “Raiders of the Lost Ark” with $212.2 million. Here are some films from the same year that I have reviewed:

• “An American Werewolf in London” (outstanding horror) – click here for my review
• “Chariots of Fire” (excellent drama) – click here for my review
• “Enter the Ninja” (bad martial arts) – click here for my review
• “Escape from New York” (OK sci-fi) – click here for my review
• “Eye of the Needle” (a blah WWII film) – click here for my review
• “The Final Conflict” (not bad horror) – click here for my review
• “For Your Eyes Only” (so-so 007) – click here for my review
• “Looker” (uneven but OK) – click here for my review
• “Nighthawks” (solid action) – click here for my review
• “Scanners” (disappointing sci-fi) – click here for my review

Additional cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

• Reynolds’ full name was Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. and he was a native of Lansing, Mich.; Fawcett’s middle name was Leni; Martin’s birth name was Dino Paul Crocetti; Davis’ nickname was “Smoky;” Bradshaw’s middle name is Paxton; Chan’s birth name is Kong-sang Chan; Elam’s birth name was William Scott Elam; Jagger’s birth name is Bianca Pérez-Mora Macías; and Farr’s birth name is Jameel Joseph Farah.

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  The extended cast includes actors, entertainers and notables such as Peter Fonda (a biker), Bert Convy (one of the “Cannonballers”), Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder (a sports oddsmaker playing a sports oddsmaker), Johnny Yune (talk show host), Molly Picon (Moore’s mother) and comedian Rick Aviles (a “Cannonballer”).

• Longtime Reynolds friend in real life Alfie Wise plays “Batman” and is Aviles’ partner. Wise was also in “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Hooper” with Reynolds.
• Directly from IMDb.com: “The ambulance used in the movie is the actual ambulance that Hal Needham and Brock Yates souped up and raced in the real Cannonball Run. It had been modified with a HEMI engine that made it go up to 145 mph …” They didn’t win; Needham kept the ambulance in storage and later donated it to a church that sold it at a charitable auction.
• Reynolds received a then-record $5 million salary for the film. He put in a total of three weeks work on the project. Nice payday, Burt.
• I’m glad that Sammy Davis Jr. was in the film with Dean Martin, but he wasn’t the filmmakers’ first choice. Don Rickles was considered first, but the part went to Davis. It would have been good, too, with Rickles, but I truly enjoyed this reunion of former Rat Packers.
• Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “George Furth‘s character (Arthur J. Foyt) was named as an tribute to IndyCar and NASCAR legend Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (a.k.a. A.J. Foyt).”

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