"Stick" (1985)

It's hard to remember when Burt Reynolds was the talk of the town. I would think him and Loni Anderson's celebrity divorce was the dam that broke when it came to sensationalizing these things.

In 1985, the guy could do what he wanted. I remember seeing this movie on t.v. edited and was struck by the very scary performance from stuntman Dar Robinson as Moke, the Albino creepy hitman/muscle. The guy had a future in acting, had he not died in a stunt a year later. The guy was chilling.

The movie...well...it's really uneven. I even recall this as a kid. Burt Reynolds was known as something of a comic actor. Post "Deliverance" he was this smart alecky weirdo. His comedy was goofy, but it often worked in movies like "Cannonball Run." This, he adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel. To which I am surprise hasn't been remade. It involves a drug deal gone wrong, and Stick...Ernest Stickley to be precise is left with a dead friend and money that is owed him. Stick is fresh out of prison and has little to no option but to go along. Along the way, he harasses the ringleader of the failed deal, Chucky played by an odd wigged up Charles Durning. This was clearly a friends called in favor movie for Reynolds, who also directed. As he also brought in Candice Bergen. Now looking at it, really really mis-casted. She seems too sophisticated for this romp. As does George Segal, who plays Stick's employer. There are really misplaced jokes. At one point Stick is a badass staring down the frosty "bunny eyes" of a Albino. the next cracking wise and schtick with Segal in regards to breaking into his car and being hired to be his driver. My lesson here, a tough guy stare down in one scene, doesn't cut well with Marx Brothers humor.

With all this going on, it's no surprise why Reynolds chose this movie to make. In other hands, I could see a really decent movie. In a way "Out of Sight" did the same material right. George Clooney, in that movie, had the right mix of charm, out-of-prison feel. Reynolds seemed to have bit off more than he could chew, and you see the desperate tap dance that goes with it.

I do remember seeing the behind the scenes decades ago, when Dar was testing a decelerating cable rig to do a fall off a hotel building. It's amazing, and is still used today.

By the way, anyone remember Anne Murray? Her corny song (co-written by Reynolds) at the end sent a weird sense of nostalgia through me.