Smokey and the Bandit

Smokey and the Bandit is an action comedy about the trucker Bandit, who, together with his partner Cledus Snow, makes a bet with two eccentric millionaires that he can haul a load of bootleg beer through several states in record time. While Cledus drives the truck, Bandit leads the police a merry dance to divert attention from the illegal cargo and the excessive speed.

Along the way Bandit picks up a runaway bride, Carrie. The only problem is that her fiancé's father is the irascible Sheriff Buford T. Justice, who has no intention of calling off the hunt for either Carrie or the speed-loving Bandit, even if he has to follow them to the ends of the earth.

There is a little too much macho banter and a little too heavy-handed farce about Smokey and the Bandit, but it has its own almost innocent charm. A great deal has happened since the 1970s, after all, not least as regards narrative pace. It actually seems a bit of a stretch that the film's Danish title, Det vilde ræs, promises "The Wild Race", for although the car chases are entertaining, they have since been done more spectacularly, more wildly and more inventively. Seen through today's eyes, it is a little hard to understand that the film became such a big success that several sequels were actually made.