Stroker Ace

BURT'S BACK . . . With car crashin' & party crashin' as the hassled hunk who drives his car upside down & his women round the bend! 

This movie was the downfall of Burt's winning streak at the Box Office as No.1 but will be included in the glory years none the less. Totally Burt appreciates this movie but can clearly see where its faults lie. As this movie was directed by Burtology figure Hal Needham and his co-star was his in real life as well movie love interest  Loni Anderson it simply has to be compared to Smokey and The Bandit. Of course it is nowhere near as great a movie as Smokey but is also not as bad as people (Burt included) make it out to be. In fact, Totally Burt holds a special place in its heart for this Burt classic car chase flick.

Stoker Ace is the story of a NASCAR driver who is at the top of his game and leading champion. He is sponsored by the Chicken Pit and Stroker wants out of his sponsorship deal. The plot also involves his rivalry with NASCAR driver Aubrey James (Parker Stevenson) which makes for a great Burt 'turn and smile' shot near the end of the movie. Jim Nabors is Stroker's wingman buddy and mechanic Lugs Harvey - he tries but alas he is no Jerry Reed or Dom Deluise.

Burt is good in this movie. He is his usual funny, charming, devil-may-care lovable rogue self and this is what makes the movie - that and lots of racing and goofy jokes which are all solid key elements in any film in the Burt car chase genre. It is an enjoyable enough movie and I don't think Hal Needham ever set out to make Citizen Kane or anything like it so you have to take it for what it is. The gag reel outtakes sequence at the end also earns Stroker a spot in the Burt 'Glory Years' and are actually one of the best bits of the movie.

Loni Anderson plays Pembrooke Feeney, PR rep for the Chicken Pit. She is just really dumb in this movie and is there basically there to play hard to get but as we all know Burt will get her in the end. The joke is she is really sexy but is a Sunday school teacher and virgin and a famous scene includes Burt getting her drunk and she passes out and Burt has to decide basically whether he wants to rape her while undressing her. Unlike in Smokey where you see progression into the romance with his leading lady, you also are not sure why she falls for Stroker aside from the fact he happens to be Burt and she is with him in real life. But that doesn't matter because that's not what this movie is about.

Totally Burt will go into more in depth analysis of this Burt guilty pleasure in future updates.