Main Cast: Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Mike Henry, Colleen Camp, Pat McCormick
Release Year: 1983
Country: US
Run Time: 88 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
In this plotless, mindless chase movie, papa Big Enos and son Little Enos (Pat McCormick and Paul Williams) hire Cletus (Jerry Reed) to haul a Jaws-replica shark from Miami to Texas to advertise their new seafood restaurant. There is big money in it for Cletus if he can get to Texas on time. Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason) mistakes Cletus for his old nemesis the Bandit (Burt Reynolds, who only appears briefly at the end of the film), postpones his retirement, and with his inept son Junior (Mike Henry) in tow, chases Cletus across the South for a disconnected series of misadventures and bad jokes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review
This third entry is easily the bastard son of the Smokey and the Bandit franchise and deservedly so -- it's a mess! Originally entitled and shot as Smokey Is the Bandit, the film starred Jackie Gleason as both Sheriff Buford T. Justice and the Bandit but was scrapped when test audiences deemed the whole thing confusing. Thus, cue in a seemingly coked-up Jerry Reed, who was then shot and edited into the film as Cledus, the friendly truck-driver buddy who steps into the Bandit's wardrobe (including the mustache) for this wacky outing. Confused yet? So were they! Reed is a comical mess in the film, continually repeating his "I'm the bandit!" lines over and over again, whether to his dog, a hitchhiker he picks up, or even scarier, to himself. Plus, he doesn't even show up for the first 30-minutes! When it comes down to it, this is really the Gleason show, with the plot revolving solely around Buford and his son Junior (Mike Henry), who himself doesn't look too hot, with the few years between this and the second film lending him a haggard, zombie quality that is evident in both his looks and line delivery. Burt Reynolds eventually shows up in an out-of-nowhere cameo that was intended to kick-start the series if the third entry was a hit, which as evidenced, it was not. Smokey and the Bandit 3 lives on as an account of Hollywood's damage control at its most confused and mockingly hilarious. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Paul Williams - Little Enos; Faith Minton - Tina; Burt Reynolds - The Real Bandit; Alan Berger - Hippie; Earl Bullock - Flagman; Ava Cadell - Blond; Cathy Cahill - Mother Trucker; Dee Dee Deering - Mrs. Fernbush; Jorge Gil - Gas Station Attendant; Austin Kelly - Painter; Will Knickerbocker - Hotel Clerk; Richard Walsh - Nudist Male; Dick Lowry - Sand Dumper; Peter Conrad - Midget; Sharon Anderson - Policewoman; Sandy Mielke - Driving Instructor; Jackie Davis - Blackman No. 1; Timothy Hawkins - Man in Truck; Mel Pape - Police Officer; Raymond Bouchard - Purvis R. Beethoven; Dave Cass - Local Tough Guy; Ray Forchion - Tar Worker
Credit
Ron Hobbs - Art Director, Linda Benedict - Costume Designer, Andre Lavery - Costume Designer, Ron Bozman - First Assistant Director, Dick Lowry - Director, David Blewitt - Editor, Christopher Greenbury - Editor, Byron Brandt - Editor, Howard Warren - Composer (Music Score), Larry Cansler - Composer (Music Score), James Pergola - Cinematographer, Mort Engelberg - Producer, Don Ivey - Set Designer, Linda Benedict - Sound/Sound Designer, Andre Lavery - Sound/Sound Designer, David Cass - Stunts, David Cass - Stunts Coordinator, Stuart Birnbaum - Screenwriter, David Dashev - Screenwriter, James Seidelman - Additional Editing
