Manolith Salutes: Burt Reynolds

Burt Reynolds might as well be the most quintessential “guy” actor in the history of the art. Even his missteps are human; looking at his 80’s and 90’s output you’d be hard pressed for find more than a couple good movies. But look at the decisions in taking those parts and you find a surprisingly human hero not that far removed from his classic Bandit character in Smokey & The Bandit.

After a car crash in college left Burt with multiple injuries his football career was put on permanent hold and Burt started a series of random odd jobs which led to one offer to jump through a plate glass window on live television. Burt was working as a dockworker at the time and took the money and decided to pursue acting full time. After a string of minor parts in early 60’s television, he secured a leading role in a spaghetti western – a low budget overseas type of movie destined for foreign audiences. But it wasn’t until the success of The Longest Yard in 1974 that he was launched onto the A-list. With his string of Hal Needham directed comedies in the late 70’s and early 1980’s Burt established himself as the caricature that all movie audiences are now familiar with: the cocky prankster with a heart of gold – a type of character that Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, and Johnny Knoxville all owe a huge debt to. If it wasn’t for Burt’s American parody of Sean Connery-esque manliness and bravado we might be stuck in a world full of 1940’s-esque romantic comedies and war movies. Burt’s star rose at the right time; when American needed a laugh in the late 70’s – an economic crisis equal to the one we’re going through now.

In the mid 90’s his career was on the rocks but after genius casting led to a role in P.T Anderson’s 1997 porn-epic “Boogie Nights”, Reynolds has made a successful and well deserved comeback. In that movie he played Jack Horner, a porn director in the late 70’s in the San Fernando Valley. The casting was so impeccably well timed: with Burt’s mustache seemingly at the helm of every scene he took a supporting part and made it a costarring role. And it might just be the mustache, but simply put Burt made all his scenes in the movie pop.

However it was his roles in the Hal Needham comedies – Smokey & The Bandit, Stroker Ace, Cannonball Run – that I think best showcase his persona. The way he came across in those films in not unlike what most American men feel about themselves. In my humble opinion, Burt is probably the best movie star of the latter 20th century, if only for his sheer likeability. While he’s no Paul Newman, Burt is a genuine star.

Burt’s just one of those actors that’s good in pretty much anything… even his mediocre output throughout the 80’s and 90’s lends a certain amount of charm to the actor, who is seemingly made out of Teflon after bouncing back from all those bad movies. On screen he comes across like you think YOU would look up there – its the kind of charisma that all actors want but very few actors truly possess. Yet he ultimately IS his character in Smokey & The Bandit… the cocky guy, wisecracking, always down for a good time guys’ guy that wakes up with a hangover but still gets the girl.

(Photo By: Alan Light and underbiteman)