'Hooper'
A retrospective movie review by Walter Frith
I know what you're thinking. What could possible justify writing a full review of a movie like 'Hooper'? My reasons may surprise and please you at the same time. It just so happens that Burt Reynolds really is a talented and clever actor. Not necessarily in 'Hooper' but in other films. Reynolds displayed a knack for the craft of acting in films like 'Deliverance', 'The Longest Yard', 'The End', 'Starting Over' and more recently in 'Boogie Nights' which is a film he is certain to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and he has a very good chance of winning. The problem is that Reynolds like Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson has somewhat buried the recognition of his talent in the minds of the public because they often choose the commercial route in making movies. I recently saw Reynolds on television talking about his work on 'Smokey and the Bandit' and he said that he never saw a bunch of people working on a movie in his life where they were having more fun and after all, a person's occupation should be pleasant and I admire Reynolds for most but not all of the choices he has made in his career.
Another reason a film like 'Hooper' deserves some recognition is that it symbolizes in an entertaining way the plight of the movie stunt man. How many categories do they have at the Academy Awards? Both technical and academic? A lot, but they should have a category for stunt men because how many people on a movie set put their lives on the line in the name of film? It is an under rated and exploiting art form which gets over looked too often.
Directed by Hal Needham, a former stunt man himself, 'Hooper' is about the personal and professional life of a movie stunt man complete with the trade mark 'good ol' boy' style that makes a Burt Reynolds movie such great escapism.
'Hooper' centers on the final career days of legendary stunt man Sonny Hooper (Reynolds) as he is working on what will eventually turn out to be his last film because of his ailing back and other physical discomforts and Sonny relies on a great quantity of pain killers for his condition.
'Hooper' showcases three generations of stunt men, Sonny (Burt Reynolds), the middle, Jocko (Brian Keith), the oldest and Ski (Jan-Michael Vincent), the youngest. Although none of them are related in the movie, Reynolds is having an intimate relationship with Jocko's daughter (Sally Field). There are other interesting characters involved including the movie's producer (John Marley) and the film's unethical and spotlight grabbing director (Robert Klein). Even football legend Terry Bradshaw has a scene as a tough guy who starts a bar room brawl with Reynolds and his gang.
The climax in 'Hooper' boils down to a rocket car stunt which will make a jump across a wide gorge. A stunt that will be executed by Sonny and Ski and a stunt for which Sonny will command an unprecedented $100,000 dollars.
'Hooper' is a movie which plays like action on laughing gas and will induce pleasant side effects for a movie audience that harmlessly embraces that sort of thing.
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