Smokey And The Bandit

"Smokey And The Bandit", starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed, and Jackie Gleason as Sheriff Buford T. Justice, was one of the surprise hits of 1977 (the other being Star Wars). A slapstick, Keystone Cops type of flick, the Bandit (Reynolds) and the Snowman (Reed) take a bet that Big Enos Burdette makes with every gearjammer he can. The wager? If the Bandit can pick up 400 cases of Coors in Texarkana, Texas, and bring them back back to Atlanta in 28 hours, he'll pocket $80,000 for his troubles. The catch? Transporting Coors Beer east of Texas is bootlegging... and besides that, "it ain't never been done, not in no rig!" The Bandit wants to do it "for the money, for the glory, and for the fun... but mostly for the money."

Along the way Reynolds raises the ire of Sheriff Buford T. Justice and his dimwitted son. You see, the good sheriff has set up wedding of sorts between his son and a woman named Carrie (Field). When Carrie bolts from the wedding, and is picked up by the Bandit, a four state chase ensues, as Justice turns his cruiser into a convertible, knocks another cop car into a river, eats a Diablo sandwich, insults a black sheriff in Alabama, loses his driver side door, arrests fellow officers for soliciting sex, and declares that he's going to punch his wife in the mouth, because there ain't no way his son comes from his loins.

As Justice bumblefucks his way across the countryside, the Bandit trades classic CB talk with the Snowman ("I'm 10-10 on the side!", "You got the one Snowman, I'm east bound and down!"). It's entertainment in itself to try to decipher what the hell the two of them are saying to each other. Plus, you get people like "The Graverobber" (a hearse driver), "The Good Witch Of The North" (a little old lady), and "Foxy Lady" (a prostitute) breaking in to cheer on the Bandit and to warn him about the law... the poh-lease... Smokey Bear... a County Mountie in a plain white wrapper... a Kojak with a Kodak... a... well, you get the point.

Meanwhile the Bandit (in his Trans-Am) runs interference for the Snowman (in his big rig) as the two chatter over the airwaves. The Bandit hits on Carrie while the Snowman is stuck with his hamburger-hungry dog, Fred. Will the Bandit and the Snowman make it back in time to win the bet? Will the Bandit be able to outwit Sheriff Justice? And what's this about driving to Boston for some clam chowder?