Word: bandit
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This is the latest model of what might be termed the Burt Reynolds Formula One Vehicle. The sometime bandit is a respectable NASCAR driver in Stroker Ace. That means that the skids and scrapes in which he defies death without losing his good-ole-boy aplomb take place on such premises as the Daytona 500 race track. He is also amiably mystified to find himself drawn to a woman (Loni Anderson) who is as tenacious in defense of her virginity as he is in pursuit of a championship. That, however, completes the list of the film's novelties...
They travel in gangs through the hills of the state of Madhya Pradesh, robbing wayfarers as did highwaymen of old. Villagers admire them, movies glorify their exploits. For eight centuries, India's dacoits (dakoo is the Hindi word for bandit) have been the buccaneering heroes of pulp-magazine adventures. But none is more compelling than the tale of Phoolan Devi, 27. Over the past four years she has become her country's most notorious dacoit. Once pursued by 2,000 police, she has been charged with 70 cases of banditry and is suspected of some 50 murders. Fanciful...
...myth of a bandit's life is more glamorous than the reality. "All dacoits are dead by the time they are 30," says a senior police official. "The nights are lonely. She is no longer the beauty she once was." She is also hunted by vengeful enemies. As a result, Phoolan has begun negotiating for police protection in exchange for her surrender. The legends will surely persist, but Phoolan may be shedding her image as India's deadliest woman. Two weeks ago, her gang encircled a bicyclist near the Chambal River. Phoolan scolded her victim for traveling alone...
There are some amusing moments, as when the head bandit (Peter Coyote) attempts to start the motorcycle by jumping up and down and kicking it, or when Swann--after initially arriving in the village--offers to reverse the charges if they will let him use their phone to call L.A. And there are some funny scenes between Swann and Claire, the love interest, played by Belinda Baucr. But we keep waiting for a scene which never comes in which everything will become clear in Swann and to the other characters. Swann never really explains to the other characters where...
...Clark Gable, he does have some inherent promise as a male romantic lead. But Best Friends simply is not his style, and until he finds the right film to develop his potential, we'll continue to be nostalgic for Gator, White Lightning, and even--God forbid--Smokey and the Bandit...