He did eventually learn to play, but not as good as his character.
And this is one of Burt's best movies.
Shame that he deteriorated so.
It’s unfortunate that Deliverance came out the same year as the Godfather and only received three Oscar nominations-—amazingly none for acting, screenplay, cinematography, or the music. Brando was good, I admit, but ignoring Burt, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox was a CRIME. You’re probably wondering who got the nominations? Michael Caine, Peter O’Toole, and Laurence Olivier in movies I never heard of.