Perturbado

I've been a fan of the late Burt Reynolds since seeing his hilarious 'Smokey And The Bandit' at a drivie-in as a kid in the 70's. Out of curiosity, I watched 'The Maddening' on YouTube recently and regretted it. This is not the Burt I grew up with or care to see. All actors do whatever roles they want but he was more of a personality and played each part the same way utilizing his charming personality. This 'southern gothic' thriller (horror?) film displays none of his good ole boy persona, and instead, he plays a violent rapist holding a young mother and her daughter hostage at his isolated property along with his mentally ill wife played by Angie Dickinson. I loved seeing Mia Sara (Ferris Bueller) who is fine as the captive of the deranged couple (Burt & Angie) until her husband (miraculously) stumbles across the property while our searching for his missing wife and child. Low budget, mediocre and derivative, I wish I had watched 'Hooper' again instead!

This film is not good. The acting is awful, the pacing is awful, it's only redeeming quality is Burt's toupee as the only reason I kept watching was to see if it would actually jump off his head. Don't get me wrong, I love Burt Reynolds but I can only assume his star was waning by the time this came along. The main problem I have with this is that I have no idea what it is. Thriller? Horror? Comedy? Absolutely no clue. The only thing I do know is that it's not good whatever it's supposed to be. I'm just sad to see Mr Reynolds doing his best in this Turkey.

Disturbing, but trashy flick with three good actors completely wasted. Burt Reynolds tries extremely hard to bring depth and meaning to his repellent character, but comes up short handed. As for Mia Sara and Angie Dickinson, both of these actresses have proven before in the past that they are solid actresses. However, in this effort they are used as little more then scenery or to just cry and acted scared. The director keeps things moving at a snail like pace and both the director and writer of this project can both be blamed for failing to build up any thrills or suspense. A major disappointment, but at least much better things were in store for Reynolds about 2 years later (Boogie Nights).

Rated R; Adult Themes, Violence.

The Maddening is a trashy, low-budget flick with a "big" star. I couldn't figure out why Burt Reynolds would appear in something like this, especially since he's always seemed so vain, I didn't think he'd have it in him to play a "bad guy." Looking back, this was made around the time of his divorce from Loni Anderson and the cancellation of his TV Show, so his star was definitely on the decline at the time. Maybe he needed the money to pay for lawyers? That being said, Burt is one of the few really good things in this film. His understated performance and on-screen charisma kept me watching even when the story and terribly pacing made me want to turn it off.

Unfortunately there's only so much that actors can do with material. This film is paced so poorly, and the story is so one-dimensional (just waiting for all of the characters to converge for the final show-down) that there's little the actors can do to help.

The most important and especial aspect of this motion picture is Burt Reynolds' performance. Here, he plays Roy Scudder, a simple, but dangerous and angry man who will do everything to protect his family's secrets.Reynolds is terrific,and this is a good chance to see him making different roles.His eyes resemble the ones of a hunter.Although very interesting, and sometimes extremely violent, The Maddening is a bit slow,and suffers due the poor production and the weak direction by Danny Huston.Over all,the movie has some memorable actings and moments (like the ending, or the confrontation between Reynolds and Sara's characters-there is a particular powerful and dramatic moment in which Roy talks about his father, in an impressive line "...watching me...watching me, and hating me, hating me because I was normal...and I hated him!because he wasn't!"). Mia Sara is great, and her chemistry worked so well with Reynolds that the star invited her to participate in his thriller Hard Time,and Angie Dickinson is also worth of mention.Even having some defects, The Maddening is a good entertainment...