The Great Smokey Roadblock (1978)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

According to the Films of Henry Fonda from the Citadel Film Series, The Great Smokey Roadblock was on the shelf for two years before being released. After that I suppose the producers decided this one was strictly for the red state drive in trade. I certainly don't remember it being exhibited in Brooklyn at the time.It's not a bad film, it was the kind of thing that Fonda did during that last decade, mostly films strictly for the paycheck and no strain on any ability. He's a typical red state hero, a hard working truck driver who because of a prolonged hospital stay was unable to keep up payments on his big rig and the bank repossessed it. Not something you do to Fonda who steals the truck back and goes looking for a last big load.And what a load it is. A favorite place of Fonda's a cat house that caters to men of the road has been shut down and Eileen Brennan and her girls have been told to cease and desist. But she's got a new location in South Carolina so she moves bag and all the baggage with Fonda from Wyoming.The film has a few laughs but some serious flaws as well. Try as I might I could not understand why the eyes of a nation should be focused on Fonda and his plight. Nor could I understand why he could not get a legitimate load for his vehicle even if it was stolen in the eyes of the law. Why should those shipping if he's got a good reputation care? And the villain of the piece drugstore cowboy truck driver Gary Sandy was hostile to Fonda for reasons that were never made clear. And Robert England's character of a hitchhiker Fonda picks up along the way is never really any kind of coherent.I did enjoy sheriff Dub Taylor and how the women got around him after he jails Fonda and them. And the women do have a good way for paying for gas, food and lodging.Young Susan Sarandon had a bit role as one of Eileen Brennan's girls. The Great Smokey Roadblock while not great was better than a lot of what Fonda was in during his last decade.

An old gear jammer want to do one more run before he is asked to run the streets of gold.This movie is o.k. To run his last run, an old timer hauls a cat house from somewhere in frontier country to somewhere in the southeast. I was unaware the 53' trailers has sunrooves. In the dance scene,Elagant John has a "What the heck am I doing here" look on his face".Henry Fonda drove the Kenworth 18 wheeler.Henry Fonda was a permanent A list actor.Eileen Brennan,Melanie Mayron,Mews Small,Diana House,Leigh French,Susn Sarandon, and Valerie Curtain are hot!!erldwgstruckermovies.com

I was the Production Accountant on this movie, and I also got to do some voice-over work on it, so I'm not entirely unbiased, but if it were awful, I would say so. I thought it was a fun film, not a critically acclaimed masterpiece, by any means, but there were plenty of laughs along the way. The Bible states that laughter does good like a medicine, so watching this movie could be good for your health.So many of the actors in this picture hadn't yet reached their peak at the time we made this film. Susan Sarandon, of course, is one who has since gone on to much greater fame. Melanie Mayron was seen on TV on a weekly basis as a photographer in the "Thirty-Something" TV drama series. Robert Englund later became known as Freddie Krueger, still haunting people's dreams. One of my personal favorite actors on this show was Dub Taylor, who played the sheriff. He was an excellent comedic actor, and a truly nice, sincere person. We all had fun working on this show, and I think that fun comes through.

** SPOILERS ON THE ROAD!!! ** I was ready for another 1970's car chase/truckin'/CB radio movie.That isn't what I got.I was ready for a ridiculous comedy.That isn't what I got.What I got was more of a dramedy. Don't get me wrong, there are many moments of slapstick, goofiness and ribaldry. After all, much of the plot concerns the fates of hookers and their Madam. Also, some marijuana is smoked. I believe that this was mandatory in movies made in the Seventies, be they Blaxploitation films or nature documentaries. Also, Nietzsche is mentioned and quoted, several times. Ouch. Them's the Seventies for ya.And yes, there is a cross-country road journey. In a big 18-wheeler. It also happens to be stolen. And there is a roadblock of police cars that gets smashed.But all of that was sort of just window dressing, beside the point of the movie. The movie is really about kicking death in the ass and going out in style and with dignity, instead of wasting away in a hospital bed. Kids, this is more James L. Brooks territory than Roger Corman. Elegant John, Henry Fonda's character, retains his dignity, and heads out on the open road with no money, for one last adventure. And he gets it, in spades, before he shuffles off this mortal coil, just short of completing that elusive "one last perfect run." The most bothersome parts to me are the shifts in tone, from pathos to wacky slapstick. Actually, I guess life is like that sometimes, but this isn't life, it's a movie, and this could have been handled a little more deftly. There are a few jarring shifts in tone. Also, the pace is a little slow. It takes far too long for our hero to load up his truck with hookers and hit the road. Even the fact of the stolen truck, which should be titillating and exploitive, is sad and winsome: he stole back his own truck which was repossessed because he was sick in the hospital and missed his payments because he couldn't work.Most of the actors are spot on. Fonda is rock solid as always. Eileen Brennan is great. Robert Englund is funny and highly believable. Susan Sarandon is adorable and charming. Dub Taylor does that same insane character he always plays. And John Byner and Austin Pendleton are really freaking annoying. Especially Austin Pendleton. But that's what he does. Asking Austin Pendleton to avoid being annoying is akin to asking a plant to stop photosynthesizing.Having made all the objections I have, I would still rate this film as better than expected, but can't recommend it without reservations. You will be disappointed if you're looking for another Smokey and The Bandit. It seems like the filmmakers wanted you as the viewer to reach for the handkerchief far too much, and far too little for the beer. By the same token, those looking for a good weeper are not going to turn to this occasionally ribald semi-slapstick comedy with the exploitation title.