Cannonball Run II

On the heels of Stroker Ace, the first major flop from director Hal Needham and star Burt Reynolds, the duo reteamed for yet another car-based action comedy. Reuniting much of the original cast of The Cannonball Run, including Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie Chan, Jamie Far, and Jack Elam, this cash-grab sequel boasts an even more impressive line-up of celebrity guest stars ranging from Shirley MacLaine to the orangutan from Every Which Way But Loose. Even Frank Sinatra joined his Rat Pack compadres (in what would end up as the final film for Sinatra and Dino). The stuffed-to-the-gills casting pays off since, just like the first movie, Cannonball Run II lacks both comedy and impressive stunt work. What's enjoyable about it is seeing all the celebs having fun doing silly but unlabored shtick. From the early scene in which DeLuise does a hilarious Don Canneloni impression surrounded by actual Godfather stars Michael V. Gazzo, Alex Rocco, and Abe Vigoda, as well as the great tough-guy actor Henry Silva, the movie puts a smile on your face that remains pretty much unbroken for the first 80 or so minutes.

Unfortunately, Cannonball Run II gets bogged down in its bloated third act. Sinatra is used pretty much the way The Muppet Movie used Orson Welles. But unlike that film, which understood that Welles only needed to say one line to capitalize on his appearance, the Sinatra scene goes on and on like the filmmakers wanted to put every frame they had of him into the final cut. The strength of the Cannonball pictures is their brevity, with no participant wearing out their welcome. That shifts with the introduction of Frank, which then leads into a terribly unfunny sequence in which Burt, Dom, and Sammy dress as belly dancers to infiltrate a desert resort owned by junior mafioso Charles Nelson Reilly. Their interminable drag act transitions into a lame, strained, extended fight sequence in which most of the cast engages in lazy, uninspired shenanigans. Where a real blow-out Mad Mad Mad Mad World-style climax is called for, Nedham gives us an action finale bearly worthy of a Dukes of Hazzard episode. Critics savagely panned this even more than the first film, especially Gene Siskel, who named it the worst film he had seen during his entire time doing At the Movies with Siskel and Ebert. But this would be a superior sequel if not for its indulgent, lackluster last third.