During the 70s/80s, many films were made that revolved around a coast-to-coast road-race across the USA ("Cannonball Run" and "The Gumball Rally" for example). This is another one of those films, an illegal road-race from LA to New York City. While other similar films took a more light-hearted and comedic approach, "Cannonball" has more action and drama than comedy, and it's hard to say if it was done on purpose or not. First off, the pacing in the movie is better than the other road-race movies I've seen. While "Cannonball Run" took 40 minutes until the race actually begun (most of which was useless to the plot and was just a way to squeeze in some hit-or-miss jokes), "Cannonball"'s race begins within the first 15 minutes, and by then we already know enough about the main cast, and more details about their characters are shown on the way to New York. The action in the movie is really good, and while the comedy aspect is only there every 3+ minutes, most of the jokes are a bit funny. It also has a much darker tone than the usual standards for this movie sub-genre, and features a lot of violence, death, and explosions. So, if your looking forward to a funny comedy, this movie doesn't have much, But if you're looking forward to an action-packed racing drama, then I would recommend it. Combined with some good acting, you get a good movie. 7/10.
