Stroker Ace

Directed by Hal Needham, Stroker Ace follows the title NASCAR driver (Burt Reynolds) as he resorts to desperate measures to get out of his contract with a fried-chicken mogul (Ned Beatty’s Clyde Torkle). It’s clear, ultimately, that Stroker Ace fares best in its affable, easygoing opening stretch, as Needham, armed with his and Hugh Wilson’s screenplay, effectively establishes a lighthearted atmosphere that’s enhanced by the charming efforts of Reynolds and his costars – with the watchable vibe initially compensating for a continuing emphasis on jokes and gags of a pointedly unfunny nature (eg Stroker attempts to race in a chicken costume). There’s little doubt, then, that the picture’s descent into tedium is triggered by a meandering midsection devoid of any real forward momentum, as Needham’s laid-back sensibilities eventually become overwhelming and one begins to crave something (anything) of substance (ie it’s all just too loose, in the end). By the time the prolonged, anticlimactic final race rolls around, Stroker Ace has cemented its place as a vanity project in which the cast and crew generally seem to be enjoying themselves more than the viewer – which is a shame, certainly, given the proliferation of agreeable elements.

** out of ****