Reels & Wheels

A touch of creativity and the help of a good writer COULD HAVE produced a noteworthy sequel to one of the greatest car movies of all time, Smokey and the Bandit. Instead, everybody failed. Our hero Hal Needham failed to produce anything more than a week retread of the previous movie, our stars (with the exception of Jerry Reed) failed to show much interest in their own performances, and Pontiac failed by producing the most anemic, gawdy, Trans Am with 1980 Turbo Trans Am. Smokey and the Bandit II might have made a few kids happy. It might have made its money-grabbing producer happy, and it might have made Hal Needham happy on payday, but it sent what could have been a bankable franchise into a downward spiral it would never recover from. Jerry Reed tries his best to make this movie great - and it's not without its moments - indeed, a stunt man performs a record-setting jump that's mostly buried in the climactic game of chicken at the end of the movie - but it's not enough.  This movie, like Burt Reynolds' fla