MovieChat Forums > City Heat (1984) Discussion > A microcosm of Burt Reynolds' career?

A microcosm of Burt Reynolds' career?


City Heat was not a perfect movie - but I sometimes think of it as a perfect microcosm of Burt Reynolds' career.

Like Burt's career, it's not horrible - and has its moments. But also like Burt's career it suffered a number of setbacks, and never seemed to realize its full potential.

Like Reynolds, City Heat was initially expected to be a runaway success, as it had everything going for it. Solid backing, a big-time writer and director at the helm (Blake Edwards), and an impressive cast including - in addition to Reynolds - Madeline Kahn, Jane Alexander, and of course Clint Eastwood. Echoes of an early Burt Reynolds - who seemed poised to become one of the biggest movie stars of all time in the 70s - with enough charm, charisma, and likability to elevate pretty much any movie to blockbuster status.

And finally, City Heat seemed to be a perfect vehicle for Reynolds. He got to play the sort of character he plays best - the likable cad - and like Reynolds, City Heat was going to be unpretentious, self-deprecating, and dedicated to nothing more or less than making the audience smile and be entertained for a couple of hours.

So what could go wrong? In a word - everything. For starters, Blake Edwards was canned as director before production even began. After Edwards was dismissed, his script was overhauled and re-written so many times no one was quite certain what sort of movie it was supposed to be. Was it a comedy? A crime drama? A buddy movie? Blake's original screenplay intended for it to be all three; the final product was not a particularly effective comedy, crime drama, OR buddy movie. And in what would turn out to be a particularly prophetic piece of bad luck for Burt Reynolds - he accidentally broke his jaw during a fight scene early on in production.

Upon its release, the film still did respectfully at the box office - just well-short of the blockbuster it was supposed to be. And in what would also be particularly prophetic for Burt Reynolds - Reynolds received the lion's share of criticism for the film's shortcomings, earning among other things a Razzie nomination - while Clint Eastwood's role in the movie was quickly forgotten as he went on to become one of the most successful actors and directors of all time. Ironic - considering it was Eastwood who fired Edwards and orchestrated a number of other production decisions that largely seemed to drag the movie down.

In the end, City Heat ended up being a passable movie with nothing really wrong with it other than it never really seemed to find its place or to achieve its true potential.

Sound like anyone's career?

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