magellan333

I went to this movie not expecting much and it lived up to my expectations. None of the wolves have any real character development or character for that matter. The plot is quite bland and offers very little in the way of surprises. The trip back to Jasper Park comes a bit too easily. This would have been a perfect time to develop the two main characters a bit better or perhaps allow them some self realization. Granted this is a kid's movie, but so are all the gems that Pixar generates. This film gives no characters to cheer on, no conflict with any level of complex resolution and it just has an overall bland quality to it.

When compared to it's predecessor, Smokey and the Bandit II is a complete waste of time. The film makers were fortunate enough to reunite the complete cast of the original but chose to make a live action cartoon instead of another great movie with fast cars, loose morals and entertaining characters. I would have much rather seen Bandit, Carrie and Cledus's trip to Boston to pick up some clam chowder, sans the Trans Am and rig, than see the weak effort put forth here. In some places the film is a sloppily done rehash of the original: Carrie is about to marry Junior again, Buford T. is hot on the trail of the Bandit with Junior in tow as a result and the Bandit is driving alongside Cledus in a black Trans-Am. Given the situation in this movie, why was the Bandit even needed? They drive the speed limit most of the movie! Cartoonish elements missing from the original include Buford's summoning of his brothers to help him catch the Bandit, a man falling out of an ambulance in a most strange looking gurney and Sheriff Justice's car being dropped from a toll bridge, only to appear again unscathed later in the film. It seems the writer of this piece of garbage said, "Let's take what worked in the original, increase its outlandishness 100 times over, add some weak one liners and throw in something for the kids while we are at it." Honestly, what minister answers a phone during a wedding ceremony? Everything that worked in part one was forgotten in part two.

I finally got to see this film thanks to a bootleg DVD from ioffer.com. I had wanted to see it for many years as I am huge fan of Andy Griffith. Boy was Angel In My Pocket a disappointment. It is surprising to see all the praise in other reviewers comments. It starts off trying to be a comedy but never really delivers. Is Samuel wrestling his hungover brother-in-law around the living room and tearing pajama's owned by his father supposed to be funny. The town is seemingly full of angry and bitter people who lack any charm whatsoever. Think of Emma Brandt on the Andy Griffith Show and her comical uppity ways and drama over her "pills" or the curmudgeon Ben Weaver. The feuding characters in this movie lack any of that. The potential for a subplot involving the star-crossed lovers has potential but is brought into the film too late and wrapped up too quickly. Suddenly a mayor's race is tossed in at the film's conclusion. This film is a shaky mess of drama, attempted comedy and characters that are wooden as two by fours. There is also a burlesque show that that viewers get to view in its entirety for no good reason.

All the audience knows about Samuel Whitehead is that he was a marine who paid his way through seminary while working at a brickyard. Why not a scene telling us what gave the good minister his calling? Somehow Whitehead's enabling mother-in-law and completely worthless brother-in-law have mooched their way into his home. These characters were not comical and added little to the story. The kids seem mere ornamentation and serve only as part of the dilapidated school subplot which again wraps up too quickly and arrives too late.

With the great cast, great setting and a plot full of potential, this could have been a great family classic that launched Andy Griffith into a new level of stardom. Unfortunately, all these elements never gel as they should and what results is a lackluster film with only a few chuckles here and there and little else.