Smokey and the Bandit II

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Waaaay back in the late 70s, there was a kind of renaissance taking place. CB radios were becoming all the rage, country music was gaining popularity due to likes of people like Ray Stevens and Kenny Rogers, and Burt Reynolds' mustache roamed the Plains in all its glory. It was a wonderful time to be alive.

Reynolds, who had starred in serious films like Deliverance and The Longest Yard, was catapulted into stratosphere of fame when he took the lead role opposite Jackie Gleason in 1977's comedy classic, Smokey and the Bandit. It was a huge hit, so plans were made a short time later for a sequel, which brings us to this week's movie, Smokey and the Bandit II, which brings back the original cast, including Reynolds and Gleason, as well as Sally Field, Jerry Reed, Paul Williams, Pat McCormick, and Mike Henry, as well as drawing in the hilariously funny Dom DeLuise.

Reynolds and DeLuise: The pairing that America was waiting for.

Big Enos Burdette (McCormick) and Little Enos Burdette (Williams) are running for governor of Texas. Unfortunately, a battle is escalating between them and their rival, John Coen (David Huddleston). After Coen drops cow manure on the Burdettes with World War II-era planes during a campaign stop, they retaliate by dropping paint on him at a party he is throwing. This leads to all of them being summoned to the current governor's (John Anderson) office for a dressing down. As they are leaving, big Enos overhears the governor on a the phone, arguing with someone about getting something delivered from Miami to the Republican National Convention in Dallas. Big Enos decides that he can get back in the governor's good graces by having the delivery made himself, and hatches a plan.

The Burdettes track down Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Reed) at a truck race and offer him $200,000 to make the delivery with his partner, Bo "Bandit" Darville (Reynolds).  Cledus agrees, and he approaches Bandit with the offer. Unfortunately, Bandit is in no shape for the job; he is a drunk, and no longer has a car. Cledus enlists the help of Bandit's ex-girlfriend, Carrie (aka "Frog", played by Sally Field) after he and Bandit convince Big Enos to double the payment for the delivery.

Frog, however, is kind of busy at the moment, finally getting married to Junior Justice (Henry), whom she ran away from on their wedding day in the first movie. When Cledus tracks her down at the church, he calls and offers her $50,000 to come help, and she agrees, but not before having to deal with Junior's father, Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Gleason), who draws his gun to keep her from leaving a second time. Frog tells him she has to help Bandit, which sets off Buford's heart monitor, allowing for her to get by him.

And hilarity, as they say, ensues.

Frog arrives in time to get Bandit back into shape, after which she and Cledus present Bandit with a brand new Trans-Am, and they head out to pick up the crate in Miami.

When they arrive, they find out that the crate has been quarantined for three weeks, so they break into the warehouse and search for it so they can get it on the truck and get going. When they find the crate, it is way too big, so Bandit suggests they just open the crate, remove what is in there, and put that in the trailer. When they do, they discover that there is a full-grown elephant inside. It flips Bandit onto its back and takes off running. Stopping only after it gets a splinter in its foot. Bandit pulls it out, and the elephant, which they name Charlotte, immediately falls in love, saving Frog the horror of being pawed by Bandit.

But it doesn't stop him from administering the occasional "shocker" when
she gets in the car.

As they leave the dock where the crate was, they are confronted by Sheriff Justice and Junior, who intend to arrest them. Bandit challenges Justice to show his marksmanship abilities, thereby using up all of his bullets. As Bandit and Cledus drive away, Justice tries to shoot at them with Junior's gun, but it is empty because, according to Juniorm, the bullets make the gun too heavy. (Junior is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.)

After a little while, Cledus suggests stopping for gas and checking up on Charlotte. When they get her out of the trailer, they decide she looks unhealthy, and they try to figure out what to do about it. At the same time, an ambulance also arrives at the gas station, and they go speak to the doctor riding in the back, Dr. Carlucci (DeLuise). At first, he is reluctant to take a look because he is with a patient at the moment (and also having his lunch), but giving him a lot of money clears his schedule pretty quickly. However, when he discovers they want him to look at an elephant, he tries to run away, only to discover that his ambulance is leaving without him. He agrees to go along with them, provided they take him to Miami so he can treat his patient's swamp fever.

When they make a stop to check on the elephant again, Dr. Carlucci tells them he has discovered that Charlotte is pregnant, and he thinks they need to let her rest a little bit. Bandit reluctantly agrees, and while Charlotte rests, Bandit and Frog start talking, and he tries to get things going with her again. Charlotte is having none of that, and she essentially takes bandit as her prisoner, keeping him from hooking up with Frog.

Pregnant elephants be crazy!

After another bit of driving, Dr. Carlucci insists that they have to stop because all the bouncing around in the trailer is causing problems for Charlotte. They park the truck and head to a local club to see Don Williams perform. As they sit watching, Frog notices Bandit doodling on a piece of paper. he lies and tells her it's a poem, but she takes it and sees that it's a sketch of a harness that he thinks will take the pressure off Charlotte's legs, allowing them to finish their trip. Frog gets angry and insists Bandit is thinking of nobody but himself, and she leaves. Bandit, now drunk and angry, goes ahead and makes the harness, and it does its job, allowing them to get back on the road.

Sheriff Justice, having been eluded all this time, decides it's time to call for back-up in his pursuit, so he contacts his brothers: Reginald (also Gleason), a Canadian Mountie, and Gaylord (Gleason, as well), a Texas sheriff with a weird little deputy who looks like Fred Armisen with dreadlocks and a banjo.

Seriously, what is that creepy little dude's deal?

They bring their officers with them, setting up an ambush to get Bandit once and for all. Of course, Bandit goes for it, leading them on a chase in the desert, where they look like they are going to catch him!

Will he get away? Will they deliver Charlotte on time? Or will Charlotte deliver her baby instead? Will Frog come back? Will Derek and Larry ever stop pronouncing "Enos" as "anus"? You'll have to tune in to find out!

Larry had never seen this before. He was impressed with Jackie Gleason stepping up to play three different roles, even if one of them had that creepy little banjo guy following him. He also got a kick out of the cameos, of which there are many. In particular, he got a kick out of Mel Tillis showing up again.

Derek has seen this movie more times than he cares to remember, but he still enjoys it. And although he, too, is freaked out by the banjo guy, he enjoys seeing Dom DeLuise actually try to do some kind of serious acting, albeit in a funny context. Overall, he's pretty happy with this one, although he is adamant that the follow-up is absolutely awful.

So gas up your Trans-Am, put on your good mustache, and tune in to this week's episode!