Stroker Ace

When Bewitched was running on television half of the plots involved Darrin's job where he and Larry Tate every week contended with yet another egotistical company president. The plot of Stroker Ace hearkens back to those days of Bewitched and it has Burt Reynolds as a NASCAR driver doing everything possible to get out from under a contract with a sponsor who's a blithering idiot.

Although Burt certainly gets in his innings in Stroker Ace, especially seeing him in a chicken suit and driving his car in a race in one, the best one in Stroker Ace by far is Ned Beatty. Beatty got an Academy Award nomination for playing the all powerful, malevolent media mogul in Network. Here he takes the same character and plays it for laughs and he's absolutely hysterical. Beatty owns a fried chicken company and he could easily have been one of McMahon&Tate's clients from Bewitched.

If outrageous overacting lead by Ned Beatty isn't reason enough to watch Stroker Ace, than certainly the curvaceous Loni Anderson should do. Loni is giving out with her best Marilyn Monroe imitation as Beatty's advertising person who thinks that what Beatty is asking of Reynolds is tasteless and stupid. Of course she falls for Burt on the screen and in real life.

I'm not a NASCAR fan, but I don't think you have to be to watch Stroker Ace and enjoy it. I have however become a fan of the Professional Bull Riders in recent years and they have their sponsors set up in a similar fashion as does NASCAR for its various drivers. I don't think the PBR has any sponsors as outrageous as Ned Beatty. If this film was about the PBR I can just see Beatty insisting to Guilherme Marchi that he ride a bull in a chicken suit or something equally bizarre.

The film got bad reviews and I can't see why. It's not sophisticated comedy to be sure, but it's not all that bad. And Ned Beatty alone is worth seeing and appreciating Stroker Ace.

For racing movie fans, "Stroker Ace" is hard to beat. It's definitely better than Driven and far less effective than Days of Thunder. It offers a comical, honest view of the sport through the life of Stroker Ace, who has secured a ride from a novice car owner intent on leveraging every ounce of Stroker's fame to sell chicken. It's the only race film to cover sponsorship honestly. Few know, Burt Reynolds was a stunt man before making it as an actor. He has always had an affinity for stunt men and this is homage to these icons that entertain us at grave risk to themselves. Hooper is a stunt packed film that is entirely over-the-top in scope from Westerns to bar brawls to cars, you've never seen all of this in one flick. It's a solid movie after all.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Stroker Ace,a film directed by Hal Needham (the same director of such souped-up hits,like Smokey and The Bandit and Hooper),is a real surprise for the audience!it offers a lot of fun and laughs,all of this accomplished by dangerous and incredible scenes of action,which make Speed look like a boring movie!the character was made for Burt Reynolds,and combines with his own personality and way of interpretation!it's a nice movie,that everybody should discover,specially because it symbolizes a time when what really counted in the box-offices was the protagonist's charisma,and not stupid special effects!good times,when Burt was the best...and this time is going to be back!

Normally I find myself defending Burt Reynolds' supposed lesser works but in this case I have to agree with the majority that this one's the pits. I want to like it much like I love the Cannonball Run and Smokey movies but this just isn't very funny. Jim Nabors has no comedic chemistry with Burt. Every line he utters I'm kind of annoyed. He actually makes me miss Dom Deluise which I never thought I'd say. Loni Anderson looks nice but brings nothing else to the table. I enjoyed her on WKRP so I know she's capable of better with a decent script. Ned Beatty is doing his best Charles Durning and failing miserably. As for Burt he's sleepwalking through this role, which he reportedly only took as a favor to director and friend Hal Needham. If true that he turned down Terms of Endearment for this then wow George Raft is no longer the actor with the worst decision-making skills in Hollywood history. If you like Burt's other 80s comedies then give it a shot but be warned it's not as much fun.

You sort of have to like these Hal Needham/Reynolds movies to like this.

The plot is weak. The dialog is mildly amusing. I found the whole chicken sponsor thing pretty funny though.

Loni Anderson fans might enjoy her ridiculous role as the naive PR person for the chicken chain

There's cleavage shown from time to time which some will appreciate

I have read the book, and the movie is quite different than the book. The book is a series of stories, possibly tall tales, loosely based on the experiences of the writers in racing. It's mostly about sex, heavy drinking and wrecking/racing cars. I enjoyed it a lot. The book is better than the movie IMO

I think Nabors and Reynolds have some funny interactions.

Auto racing is rather limited, probably due to cost. But you do get to see some vintage cars and racing footage

Just remember this is a silly pointless movie, in the spirit of movies like Smokey and the Bandit and maybe you will enjoy it like I do