Smokey and the Bandit

Smokey and the Bandit. 1977 Universal Pictures.
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Mike Henry
Director: Hal Needham
Available from Amazon.

Two Texas millionaires, Big Enos Burdette (Pat McCormick) and his son Little Enos (Paul Williams), are looking for a trucker willing to haul a large shipment of Coors beer to Georgia for their enjoyment. At the time, Coors was largely confined to the western U.S. thanks to federal liquor laws and state liquor tax regulations, so anyone trying to sell or ship the product east of the Mississippi River was considered a bootlegger. The first two truck drivers are pinched by the law enroute. The Burdettes simply get in touch with the legendary driver Bo "Bandit" Darville (Reynolds), offering him $80,000 to get the 400 cases of Coors from Texarkana to a truck rodeo in Georgia, if he can get the beer there in 28 hours. Bandit says he will, and he recruits a fellow trucker, Cletus "Snowman" Snow (Reed) to drive the truck, and Snowman brings along his Basset Hound named Fred for company. Bandit buys the now iconic black Pontiac Trans Am, which he drives himself as a distraction to deflect attention away from Snowman's truck containing the illegal cargo.

Bandit and Snowman get to Texas ahead of schedule, pick up the beer, and immediately double back towards Georgia. Bandit picks up a dancer and apparent runaway bride named Carrie (Field). This draws the ire of Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Gleason), whose son Junior (Henry) was to have married Carrie that day. Justice and Junior pursue Bandit, Snowman, Carrie (nicknamed "Frog") and Fred all the way to Georgia, slowly destroying their squad car enroute, and they're completely unaware of the Coors loaded into the truck; they just want Carrie handed over to them.

With ten minutes to spare, Bandit and company arrive at the truck rodeo, but immediately accept another assignment from the Burdettes: drive to Boston and bring back some clam chowder in 18 hours, double or nothing. They quickly depart, seeing Buford's wrecked squad car on the side of the road, and they taunt him over the CB radio. The sheriff, by now well out of his jurisdiction, vows that he isn't finished, and drives his smashed car after them, with Junior trying to catch up on foot.

All right, this is clearly no Citizen Kane, but it's still a hell of a good time. Highly recommended.