In late 1977 a car movie debuted as a massive hit and boosted the careers of the stars Burt Reynolds and Sally Fields into the stratosphere while kick starting the CB radio/Trucker craze. That film was directed by Hal Needham, and it was called Smokey & The Bandit. It’s a pretty great car crash comedy, one of the best you’ll see. Needham, an ex-stuntman followed it up with a surprisingly good stuntman film called Hooper and clearly based on the success of these two movies Needham was given the keys to Hollywood to make any film he wanted. That next film was The Villain.
Ever wonder what a live action version of a Road Runner cartoon would be like? Well wonder no more, it would be pretty terrible, and this movie proves it. The amazing, legendary Kirk Douglas stars in the title roll of Cactus Jack ie- The Villain, a surrogate While E Coyote that is after the money that Anne Margaret it carrying. All the gags that you’ve seen in Loony Tunes Cartoons find there way into this in an incredibly terrible and painful to watch way. It just does not work at all. There’s not enough scenery for Douglas to chew, and Anne Margaret does her best to liven things up with her flirty sex appeal. It doesn’t really work either. Nothing works! Not even the stunts are worthwhile in this western spoof. It’s truly terrible! Why would they try to make this film?
Arnold Schwarzenegger fairs just as well as everyone else in his roll of Handsome Stranger. Yes, that is his characters name. He plays a naive, “Dudley Do-Right” type roll that is out to protect Anne Margaret and not realizing her advances. He does just fine in a roll that requires nothing from him in the acting department.
There’s nothing left to say. This isn’t a proper Arnie movie, it’s a terrible western spoof comedy that no one can redeem. It’s mostly sad, Douglas especially deserves better.
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