Posted on 09/08/2018 3:51:22 PM PDT by Twotone
In a line much quoted since his death on Thursday, Burt Reynolds observed, "I may not be the best actor in the world, but I'm the best Burt Reynolds in the world." And he was. It made him a huge box-office star in the Seventies, and thus the best Burt Reynolds in the world cruised amiably through Smokey and the Bandit, Cannonball Run and variants thereof for a hugely lucrative decade. He took his bankability and invested it in things he liked - a football team, a petting zoo, and a lovely little theatre in Jupiter, Florida. Squire to an impressive variety of desirable women (Judy Carne, Dinah Shore, Sally Field, Loni Anderson), Burt Reynolds was indisputably the best Burt Reynolds he could be, until various health issues took their toll in recent years. Nevertheless, before he became Burt Reynolds in full but after a long apprenticeship in "Gunsmoke", "Flipper" and far worse, he turned in a pretty terrific acting performance in the 1972 film that made him a bona fide star.
In 1970 the poet James Dickey wrote a first novel about a canoeing trip in the wilds of Georgia that goes awry. The British director John Boorman read it, liked it, and made a film of it two years later, roping in Dickey for the screenplay and a cameo as the sheriff of a condemned rural county about to be buried underwater by a new dam. John Boorman has made several splendid films in the years since; James Dickey went back to poetry and didn't write a second and third novel until half a decade before his death; but neither man ever again planted something in the popular consciousness the way they did with this picture, and its instantly recognizable one-word title.
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
Black female singers get the adulation in death that Burt Reynolds should be getting.
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Mark Steyn rules. Best combo actor tribute and movie review I have ever read.
I miss “the best Burt Reynolds” already.
I never understood the fuss over Deliverance.
Four guys go on a picnic.
One of them plays a tune with Bruce Springsteen.
Bill Clinton and James Carville challenge them to a game of Cornhole.
Jimmy Carter flails at a rabbit in a lake.
The end.
Burt told a story once that in the 60’s he and Clint Eastwood were fired the same day from a job. Clint for having too big of an adam’s apple and Burt was told he couldn’t act.
Walking back to their truck he tells Clint “I feel bad for you. See I can learn to act but you’re stuck with that damn adam’s apple.”
Burt had a highly underrated sense of humor and actually became a very fine actor over the years. And I might say Clint isn’t doing badly either, despite the adam’s apple.
Thank you Burt for all the wonderful memories.
Deliverance is art. Pity you did not get it.
I was just thinking the same thing. Steyn is incomparable and his breadth of knowledge is amazing. What a well written, concise review! He even weaves Trump into it of all things.
Deliverance has all the artistic excellence of an Ernest P Worrell movie minus the enlightening dialogue.
Remember he’s been kidnapped by aliens so maybe on a planet that’s just getting the Deliverance broadcast signal!
Archer can explain wat it means to be Burt Reynolds!
In the movie Sharkey’s Machine, Burt’s character is tortured and has two fingers cut off. That scene has stayed in my mind since I saw it nearly 40 years ago. When Burt Reynolds was good, he could be exceptionally good.
Terrible date movie
Burt Reynolds - white privilege. / s
bkmrk
Yes, a very well written and respectful piece. I first saw Deliverance in college in the early 80s at the student center. It was so well made and acted and Reynolds was very cool. His fractured leg was very disturbing (as were of course the mountain men and their antics). I am glad Reynolds was happy with his performance in that film.
Enjoyed the “X Files” episode he did.
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