How sad is this?

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

"Hooper" is a delightful tribute by star Burt Reynolds and director Hal Needham - both of whom began their careers as stuntmen - to those brave men and women who risk life and limb for the movies. It remains endearing and upbeat throughout, sometimes getting serious but never melodramatic. It's naturally jam packed with amazing stunt work, and quite a few explosions as well. The cast is completely engaging, and everything is played with a respectable amount of humour.Burt plays Sonny Hooper, an old pro stuntman who realizes that a new day is coming, and that a new breed is emerging: younger, tougher, more daring. A prime example is up and comer "Ski" (Jan-Michael Vincent), who comes to work on the same movie that Sonny is currently gaffing. It's Ski who encourages Sonny to try one of the riskiest car stunts ever filmed."Hooper" has just enough story to be involving, and one can't help but like these characters. Burt is charming, with an incredibly foxy Sally Field playing Gwen, the girlfriend who stands by him. Vincent is very likable, as are the supporting performers such as Brian Keith, John Marley, James Best, Adam West (in what is really a nothing role, as the actor for whom Sonny doubles), George Furth, Don 'Red' Barry, Robert Tessier, and Tara Buckman. Comedian Robert Klein is good as Roger Deal, the jerk director of the movie-within-the-movie, who cares not for going over budget or risking lives as long as he gets his shots.Burt has a great moment right at the end as he acknowledges us in the audience before providing us with an appropriate and satisfying punchline.Eight out of 10.

Screen legend Burt Reynolds stars as Sonny Hooper in this goofy, harmless 4am cable flick about the trials and tribulations of the world's greatest movie stuntman. Along with Burton (I like to call him that), the other members of the cast have a lot of fun with what appears to be a great deal of improvisation. Watching this movie you almost get the feeling that during some scenes, I don't think the actors knew that the camera was even rolling. But seriously though, it's okay. When you got Sally Field as Gwen, Sonny's loyal and loving girlfriend who stands by him no matter how dangerous the stunts, current Hollywood burnout Jan Michael Vincent as "Ski," the young and upcoming rookie to the stuntman world who looks to take Sonny's job (not intentionally though), funnyman Robert Klein as the director of the film that Hooper is based upon (it's a movie within a movie of course), and James Best (Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane from the TV show Dukes of Hazzard) as Sonny's assistant and friend, the result is a nifty collection of acting misfits. I'm sure after the shooting of Hooper concluded; everybody who worked on this obvious tinsel town nugget probably became best friends. But heck, that's probably the case with any Reynolds's film. In the end, what you get from Hooper is uninhibited tongue and cheek humor overload mixed with an exciting, sped up, documentary feel. The whole flick concludes with a rocket car rambling through tons of explosions (Reynolds and Vincent are driving) and city wide destruction all for a perfect scene in the movie within a movie. Oh did I mention the big Trans Am (same car) jumping across a 300 foot gorge to get to safety. Oh Hollywood, you never disappoint.

Hooper is a relic of that bygone era when Burt Reynolds was the biggest movie star on the planet. Unlike today's big stars who exploit success for either artistic indulgences or to turn themselves into global brands, Reynolds decided to spend his moments in the sun having as much fun on screen as he could possible have. That impulse eventually led him to such levels of self parody that his film career imploded and never recovered. Before it got to that point, though, he clearly had a heck of a good time and Hooper is probably one of the best testaments to that.Sonny Hooper is Reynolds in all of his gum chewing, cowboy hat wearing, weird laugh emitting glory. Sonny is the top stunt man in Hollywood, working on a big budget action film with cold blooded director Roger Deal (Robert Klein). The story is technically about Sonny feeling age and infirmity creeping up on him while having to deal with a young stunt man (Jan-Michael Vincent) who seems primed to surpass him. I say technically because the story is really just an excuse for Reynolds, his friends and his then lover Sally Field to mug for the camera and pal around on the studio's dime. There was still such fresh energy in Reynolds in 1978 that he could get away with that and be entertaining. When Hooper enters its final half hour and builds toward a big rocket car stunt climax, you can't help but notice how much of the movie up 'til then was just Reynolds and company screwing around between the bare number of mandatory scenes to advance the minimalistic plot.As a movie, this is little more than a collection of gags and one liners as a tribute to the hard life and hard living of the Hollywood stunt man. The few attempts to generate drama, like having Sonny's father-in-law (Brian Keith) suffer a stroke or Hooper risking paralysis by doing one more stunt, are all undercut by no one in the cast taking any of it seriously unless they absolutely have to.What you can take away from watching Hooper is how boyishly appealing Reynolds was at his prime, how sexy Sally Field was in hers and how odd Terry Bradshaw looked with a full head of hair. It's a fun film where the humor has held up better over time than the stunt work, though Reynolds and James Best's penchant for impersonations likely seemed as strange then as it does today. If you liked Smokey and the Bandit but wondered how things could have gone so wrong with Smokey and the Bandit II, watching Hooper could be a good guide. It regenerates a good bit of that engaging Smokey feel, yet you can also see a level of self indulgence creeping in that rarely leads to anything good.

Another light-hearted, but likable throwaway comedy drama by Burt Reynolds and at that time his girlfriend Sally Field. Probably my favourite of the crop. As Reynolds plays a legendary Hollywood stuntman Sonny Hooper who's spurred on by a young rival Ski Chinski (Michael Jan Vincent), as the pair prepare for one very outrageous stunt which could cost their lives. This caper might have some serious consequences within, but everything is done in a confidently bright and breezy manner ("Sonny, you're all heart") that you'll be hard pressed not to see these character overcome the dangers and stress of their professions. It basically makes light of everything. The plot is thin with no real excuse other than to spontaneously display one exciting stunt showpiece after another while filling the gaps with rowdy camaraderie (the dying breed getting into trouble) and rib-tickling high-jinks. The finale is spectacularly staged in movie magic. It shows in the faces of cast that everyone is having a good time with it. Reynolds is perfectly laid-back delivering the usual quota of snappy wisecracks. Jan Vincent is fittingly stolid as the young stuntman learning the ropes from a master and Field brings a charming independence to her role. There's very good support in the likes of Brian Keith, Adam West, Terry Bradshaw, John Marley, Robert Klein, James Best and Robert Tessier. Enjoyably carefree, but colourful time-waster."You should drink more. Nothing hurts when you're numb."