Kevin Coughlin
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EARLY ACCESS ~ THE CANNONBALL RUN (YT EDIT)
🕑 Added 2025-12-22 08:37:10 +0000 UTCThe Cannonball Run is not a movie so much as a cocaine-fueled celebrity road trip that accidentally got cameras pointed at it—and that’s exactly why it rules. There is no plot to speak of, no character arcs, and absolutely zero concern for things like logic or restraint. It’s just a parade of movie stars, race cars, bad accents, worse disguises, and jokes that land about 60% of the time… which is honestly a miracle given how loose this thing is.
Burt Reynolds is in full smirking, mustache-on-cruise-control mode, Dom DeLuise is doing a character so broad it practically breaks the sound barrier, and Jackie Chan shows up looking like he wandered in from a much better movie and decided to stay anyway. You’ve also got Roger Moore spoofing James Bond as a guy who clearly believes he is James Bond, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. running a scam with peak Rat Pack energy, and Farrah Fawcett being weaponized as a distraction because… 1981.
The whole thing plays like a greatest-hits reel of “hey, remember this person?” and somehow that’s the charm. Everyone looks like they’re having fun, no one seems overly concerned with whether the joke actually works, and the movie just barrels forward like it knows you’re either on board or you’re not. There’s an undeniable “we’re just hanging out” vibe that modern studio comedies are terrified to embrace.
Is it dated? Oh yeah. Is it stupid? Absolutely. Is it kind of a mess? Without question. But The Cannonball Run isn’t trying to be clever—it’s trying to be fun, and there’s something refreshing about a movie that just shrugs and floors it. It’s cinematic junk food, proudly served with no nutritional value and zero apologies. If you accept it on those terms, it’s a blast.
