Hooper
Burt Reynolds’ 1970s run as a major movie star is the stuff of legend that unfortunately has become diminished in this day and age (with a large number of millennials who don’t even know of him at all) but with the unmatched clout that he had in that decade, he could get almost any project that he was interested in greenlit and made, including this 1978 release, a laid back comedy drama that in many ways was like a love letter to the profession of movie stuntmen, a field that Reynolds himself had been a part of early in his career (as was his Smokey And The Bandit / Cannonball Run director Hal Needham who also was the director here). The film literally swims in the sentiment that stuntmen were the true studs of the film industry, real men who were unafraid to take the bumps that the more spoiled, entitled actual movie stars themselves would usually decline to be a part of. Reynolds plays Sonny Hooper, considered to be the “greatest stuntman alive” in this fictional cinematic world (although several top real life stunt guys are referred to in the dialogue throughout the film) who is currently working on what appears to be a real humdinger of an action epic, doubling for its main star (Adam West playing himself) and being directed by a smug, prissy, pretentious egomaniac who appears to be living in his own personal reality, reportedly based partly on Peter Bogdanovich and played here by Robert Klein in what amounts to a near brilliant exercise in smarminess, always having his ass constantly kissed by his sawed off runt of a 1st AD (Alfie Wise, one of many lower end Cannonball Run cast members on hand here) and not really caring at all if his decisions are either life threatening to those working on his crew or budget breaking to either the studio financing the whole thing or the producer on set (John Marley) trying to keep the whole thing together. Burt’s Hooper is the head stunt coordinator on the film with his own assistant (James “Roscoe” Best) and his own level of power over the proceedings, which means getting to decide which member of his jolly old crew gets to perform which stunts while always saving the most dangerous stuff for himself because he loves to show off. There’s a price to be paid for his cavalier attitude, having developed a pain pill addiction and also so many physical aggravations that he’s resigned himself to the fact that his next daredevil feat could also be life ending. The film just kind of meanders along with little to no story outside of depicting life on this movie set during this particular shoot with the actual details of the movie itself being utterly unimportant to almost everyone except the Klein character. Hooper seems to have a pretty solid support base with his live in girlfriend (Sally Field) and her father (Brian Keith) who himself was a legendary stuntman and something of a mentor to Hooper as well when suddenly onto the scene comes a newcomer to the stunt world (Jan-Michael Vincent) who already has a rock star like reputation and is constantly referred to as “The Kid”. Vincent finally strolls onto the set looking to get some work and with the maniac director trying to make things bigger and more dangerous, Hooper readily agrees to bring him onto the team. The movie smartly shows some maturity in showing the relationship between Reynolds and Vincent to be one based out of respect and not that of a heated rivalry as being the “up and comer” was a character type that Vincent had played often in his own fantastic 70s run. The movie edges precariously close to becoming pretty dark at times but still manages to throw much of it off with humor even when Reynolds is told how the next jarring impact to his body from a stunt could paralyze or even kill him. Even with just depicting the day to day life of the production shoot where the stunt crew is considered to be BY FAR the coolest guys on set, the movie really seems to be going nowhere until Klein’s director apparently loses all decorum and decides to literally go for the biggest stunt of all time, an insane car jump being done by both Vincent and Reynolds where the possibility of death is ever present and the risk of injury is a given, but at least it gives the last third of the movie a little bit more thrust as the preparations are made for the gig, with Reynolds’ Hooper demanding a massive payday for himself and Vincent, Fields as the girlfriend threatening to leave him if he goes through with it and the young and the old lion going out and test driving the stunt car while getting smashingly drunk (drunk driving seemed to be Reynolds’ favorite form of misbehavior in many of his movies) before the finale itself in a film that while otherwise insignificant, stands as a heartfelt tribute to those in the movie stunt industry including Sally Field’s own real life stepfather and is a definite source of enjoyment for those who can still appreciate Burt Reynolds’ patented, laid back style of acting, complete with his famous, trademark high pitched laugh…
7/10