Flatbed Annie & Sweetiepie: Lady Truckers

Women Truckers are very common during the 70's. Learning about the open road for the first time. For me, I don't care about who is driving the big rigs. It's America, right? For Flatbed Annie and Sweetie Pie, the open road is a dream come true.

Flatbed Annie(Annie Potts) is a seasoned veteran truck driver who takes Sweetie Pie(Tracy Darby) under her wing when her husband is shot during a attempted hijacking. Unknown to anyone, even the truck reposessor(Harry Dean Stanton), there's coccaine in the cab. So the two lady Truckers go out to California to get the truck. They succeeded, but have to take care of the characters that are after the truck. For different reasons.

The real star of the movie is the Mack Superliner. A more updated conventional rig. Since CONVOY have the 1966 R-600 series. The blaring horns are all the same to me!

4.5 out of 5.

An inexperienced lady trucker (Kim "True Grit" Darby) and an experienced lady trucker (Annie Potts) try to stay one step ahead of the repossessor and whoever else may be after them. They drive a Mack Superliner. Suppose it had a synchromesh transmission, but still nice to watch women drive big rigs. They pull a van and not a flatbed, though. Good for hauling citrus fruit. I thought the end of the movie, though representative of the fellowship of truckers, was kind of far-fetched. One of the last appearances of Arthur Godfrey and about the only movie appearance of Billy Carter. The movie shows the thrill and camaraderie of trucking. A couple good songs in the movie, too.

I recently watched Flatbed Annie & Sweetie Pie (1979) on Tubi. The storyline follows two women from very different walks of life who both need money-and a little luck. Hoping to find both, they team up to work as truck drivers. But life on the road proves to be more difficult than either of them expected.

Directed by Robert Greenwald (Xanadu), the film stars Annie Potts (Ghostbusters), Harry Stanton (Alien), Kim Darby (True Grit), Fred Willard (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy), and Rance Howard (Universal Soldier).

The premise-two mismatched women trying to make it in a male-dominated world-might have had potential, but the execution is lazy. The writing feels thin, the plot is generic, and the villain lacks any real presence. It's clear this was made-for-TV, and it shows in the low-budget production values, underwhelming action sequences, and lack of compelling content. There's no grit, no real stakes, and nothing to elevate it beyond a forgettable time filler.

In conclusion, Flatbed Annie & Sweetie Pie is a poorly made, uninspired TV movie that isn't worth your time. I'd give it a 3/10.