Burt Reynolds's really made an impression with his smartly catered cop thriller "Sharky's Machine" and four years later he churn out another directorial crime outing. Maybe not as effective and complete, but still acceptable time filler. The story is penned by the reliable Elmore Leonard, who has a knack for building crime and character interactions within a busy framework. That's were I found it to peter out at times, as there seems too be so much going on and from that it can get a little distracted. It starts off strong, but then it goes wayward and stalls too often. Reynolds' sober direction seemed rather uneven in trying to balance out the explosively grimy moments with the uneasy comic relief. The film was more character driven (likeable relationships are struck or quick fuses erupt) and held together by its plot developments, but the script just didn't bite hard enough and its ending is quite lousy. Gladly the performances stand-up; namely that of the support cast. Where the bad guys are truly vile. Dar Robinson (who's mainly a stuntman) is magnificently threatening as the albino hired killer. A true scene stealer. While he hands out some nasty punishment and the gravel voice strikes fear. Alone just looking at him is frightening enough. Charles Durning playing a scummy low-life crook sticks out with his loud, bright Hawaiian shirts, feathered hair and wild bushy eyebrows. It's hard to take your eyes off either one. Leading the way in the bad guys is a dashing Castulo Guerra. You know the man with the power
the one you don't want to get on the wrong side of. To go with that, he's quite spiritual, but with a mean-streak. Burt Reynolds' character finds himself stuck in the middle of this trio when after getting out of prison he joins a buddy on job involving some of Miami's lowlife criminals. However it's a set-up, where his friend is killed and he is soon targeted. So he seeks payback, but on the other side of the coin he wants to go straight so he can catch up with daughter. Reynolds plays it with that laconically tough shade and knowing attitude, letting his charm carry him along. His weapon of choice seems to be his smartarse lines
physical wise gasoline or matches
that you only get disappointed when he can't get a hold of one of these objects. The next best thing was death by scorpion. Another scene stealer would be George Segal as a cheerfully naïve millionaire that loves the company of criminals. Some sequences with him were priceless. Also showing up is Candice Bergen (the love interest), Jose Perez and Alex Rocco. Clunky, but amusing.
Review of Stick
