Series Overview:
Here’s a fun test I put myself through: Without mentioning the actor who played him, what he wears, where he’s from, or what he drives, describe Bandit’s character. I’m doing this to try to figure out why Bandit was such a dominant cultural force for so many years. What was Bandit’s overarching appeal?
Bandit is charming. We know that. He’s a Lothario, but a kind one. He is fiercely loyal to his friend and chuckles at authority. He’s a casual buddy with down-home wisdom and street smarts, if not classical intelligence. I suppose this is an appealing character on paper. I’ve seen a larger number of much, much blander heroes, even in many mainstream Hollywood blockbusters.
But the fact remains that Bandit’s charm is not why we come back to these things. It’s Burt Reynolds’ charm. With all due credit to Brian Bloom, Bandit can only ever be played by Burt Reynolds. Who would you cast today? I suppose McConaughey is too old by this point. I guess I’d cast Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as he’s a good-looking and dazzling young actor who could perhaps emulate what Reynolds had. But no one could have it in the exact same way.
There was a time when Burt Reynolds was considered one of the sexiest men alive. And while he doesn’t get my own motor running, the original Smokey and the Bandit lets me understand a bit as to why he revved up so many people back in 1977. And that charm managed to be extended into a series of seven movies.
Some powers cannot be understood, nor denied.
Witney Seibold is the head film critic for Nerdist, and a contributor on the CraveOnline Film Channel, and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. You can read his weekly articles Trolling, and The Series Project, and follow him on “Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.
