High-Ballin' (1978)
8/10
Good drama rides high, with Reed at the wheel
15 January 2013
Reed and Fonda make a great combo in this truckin' action movie, you wouldn't want it any other way. Reed with a beard, so much resembles one of my Dad's friend's in this movie, it's almost uncanny, like in the way he answers people, especially in one response. Fonda, an ex truckie, a biker here of course, joins Reed on one last route, after a bit of friendly persuasion by Reed. Only this trip becomes one for survival. Truckies are being hijacked and robbed of their shipment and trucks, the players, are people in their own backyard, one a friend of a guy who gets in a fight with Fonda, the instigator, making a funny remark about his non use of roll on. The fight, where the players use irons is disappointing as it's over before it's even begun. The loser, if you can call him that, and it's not Fonda, was trying to crack on to female trucker, prior, a hot number (Helen Shaver) who really gave him a serve with her sweet talking mouth, while nibbling cutely on some jerky. Fonda becomes the hero, taking down this operation, one scene has him and Shaver surviving a shooting in a motel room. This is a fun adventure movie but a good drama too. Another scene where Reed, Fonda, and Reeds's little son, Tanker are being set upon by bad guys, firing bullets was compelling, where Fonda gets up on the second deck of the trailer at the back of the rig, and unhooks these cars, where they come flying back off the trailer into the path of the bad guys, one car making a backfire explosion which I thought was cool. Reed says to himself in the middle of all this chaos. "Oh boy, why couldn't I had a girl". It also had a good showdown between Fonda and his foe's mate, who holds Shaver at gunpoint. Also what was great, was we got to spend some time at home with Reed's family, which very much reminded me of when I was a kid and how I used to sit around the table, talking with Dad's friends. Even though this movie's dated, it's worth a look, another reason why American International Pictures was a cool movie company. Reed's performance here is impressive too.
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