Cloud 9

Silly, pointless, and an indication of the depths to which Burt Reynolds' career has sunk.

Avoid.

Over the last ten years, Burt Reynolds has straddled the line between being an A-lister and a B-lister. His best known comeback was in 1997, when he re-emerged into the A-list spotlight with "Boogie Nights". Ten years later, he was still making good movies along the likes of "Mystery, Alaska" and the decent remake of "The Longest Yard". If he keeps doing movies like "Cloud 9", he may have to kiss those A-list parts goodbye again.

The problem with "Cloud 9" is not that Burt Reynolds is bad in it. In fact, the movie starts out really well with Reynolds playing a lovable loser. It's not the first time he plays one of these characters, and he usually plays it very well. It's just that the movie is boggled down with so many sports and rags-to-riches movie clichés that by the end, the movie seems far from original even though the premise is.

The premise is another great thing about this movie, and the movie had the right idea about where to go with it until the very end. The problems occur with the lack of character development. Burt Reynolds' and D.L. Hughley's characters are pretty well developed, but the strippers could have been made into more interesting characters. Instead, they are just one-dimensional stereotypes borrowed from other movies. There's the jive-talking black woman, the blond stripper with a heart of gold, the angry Latino stripper, and the Russian bombshell that no speak English good. Oh yeah, and although Angie Everheart does a better-than-expected acting job in this movie, her character has been done before. If I had a nickel for every movie where there was a smart, single mother who was forced to strip to support their only child, I'd be a millionaire. In fact, wasn't Burt Reynolds himself in a big budget film with one of those characters? The name "Striptease" rings a bell, as does the name "Demi Moore". And as I remember, that movie didn't get stellar reviews either.

Last but not least, Gabrielle Reese could have been utilized better in this movie. Sure, she's a natural fit for playing a professional volleyball athlete, since she is one in real life. But the problem comes when she expresses her objection to strippers playing volleyball, since that would bring the wrong kind of exposure to the sport. Of course she is correct and has a valid point, but the movie unevenly makes her out to be the villain of the story because of that viewpoint. Plus, the guys in the movie make fun of the fact that she's built like an athlete, which doesn't send a good message to young women who see this movie. They appear to completely forget the fact that Gaby Reese is one of the most beautiful women in the world, let alone the most gorgeous athlete. In fact, I found myself rooting for her side at the end of the film, and really not caring either way if the heroines won.

This movie was very promising. In fact, the movie started out great, and even Paul Rodriguez was funny as Juan a.k.a. Wong. However, the really important characters in this story were underdeveloped, and so many movie clichés, tired archetypes, and male posturing made this movie unenjoyable. I reiterate when I say that Burt Reynolds should probably get a new agent, because he has been in and can be in better movies.

I saw this movie and it was terrible. Not only does it not show any skin from the female volleyball players (which it should) but the acting is horrible. I expected a train wreck with some skin but what I got was a train wreck with no skin. Picture a script from Skinamaxs (Cinemax) which has horrible storyline but with no skin. Burt does a horrible job acting in this film and the girls can't act to save their lives!! Angie Everhart playing an uptight stripper seems kind of crazy to me and Hugley was H O R R I B L E in this film then again he's pretty much horrible in all the movies he's in. My advice , unless u get a free view of this film stay away.

This is quite possibly one of the worst movies I have watched in a long, long time.

After reading some of the positive comments about it though I am really shocked that some people enjoyed this. I honestly believe that this movie getting a 3.7 is about 2.7 points too much...

This movie was a complete waste of my time and just reiterated my belief that Burt Reynolds is officially an acting has-been. The acting is forced and rides along cameo appearances (and less notably, mentions) by Tony Danza (and Anthony Hopkins).

Looking at these 'strippers' play volleyball can only bring about so much excitement, and it certainly does not warrant an entire hour and a half of your life...

Stay away from this movie if you can, its not deserving of any of your money, or you time for that matter.

Bought the movie from Barnes and Noble and it arrived yesterday....i couldn't find it anywhere online to just watch for free but the buy was definitely worth it!

I laughed so hard I rolled out of my bed. Its not a bad movie at all.

I will admit that some speeches were a little corny but come on you can sooooo let that slide.

Angie Everhart will and always will be my favorite actor and it was nice to now that she had the most sense in the movie!

And Burt Reynolds and D.L. Hughley was a awesome duo!!!

all and all I give it between a 8.5 and a 9! don't let bad reviews stop you from trying this movie out!