Even "Cannonball Run II" could not return him to the box office standing he had -- I read he turned down the Jack Nicholson role in "Terms of Endearment" to do this movie which makes the legacy of this lousy movie even more damaging.
shareThis movie was cornier than Cobb county!
sharehttps://haphazardstuff.com/stroker-ace-1983-movie-review/
First let me talk a bit about Stroker Ace in the context of Burt’s career – which is actually much more interesting and compelling than anything in the actual film itself.share
Coming into Stroker Ace Burt had been voted the most popular star for the last five years. I’m not sure younger moviegoers can get a sense of what a crowd pleasing celebrity he was during his peak years. Audiences loved him, he was a huge box office draw and kept churning out the hits.
He was in his late forties at this point and rather than try to take a more dramatic turn, stretch himself and take a risk by accepting writer/director Jim Brooks’ offer of doing Terms of Endearment – in a part that Brooks specifically wrote for him – Burt passed on it.
Burt decided to stick with his old buddy Needham, play a role that he felt was more of what his fans wanted to see from him, be in a type of movie that he had found success in the past and that seemingly appeared more of a guaranteed hit. So, he proceeded to make another car comedy with Needham.
Big mistake. Terms of Endearment was the box office hit winning over audiences and critics. It would go onto win five Academy Awards. Burt’s replacement in the film Jack Nicholson went onto win his second Oscar for his performance.
Meanwhile, Stroker Ace would come out. It became a notorious flop and knocked Burt off his Hollywood pedestal that he enjoyed throughout much of the 1970’s and early 80’s.
This is where many fans pinpointed the moment when Burt’s film career began a nosedive that never recovered. Reynolds’ himself later admitted that making Stroker Ace was a mistake, that by doing it it lost him a lot of his fans and helped end his successful film career. It was just one too many ‘Needham car movies’. He should have accepted that Terms of Endearment offer.
I never cared much for "Stroker Ace" and even preferred "Smokey and the Bandit 3" over this one.
shareReynolds was also dating his new squeeze Loni Anderson at the time...a beautiful woman who can cloud any man's judgement.
(Married in 1988)
Easy access to Ms. Anderson, with the ability to get her a part in the movie to impress her, probably also played a part in his decision.
I saw this in a drive in theater. It was perfect for that.
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