Cannonball Run II

Infobox Film
name =Cannonball Run II


caption =Theatrical release poster
imdb_id =0087032
writer =Harvey Miller
Hal Needham
starring =Burt Reynolds
Dom DeLuise
director =Hal Needham
producer =
distributor = Warner Bros.
released =June 29, 1984
runtime = 108 min
language =English
country = United States
budget =
preceded_by = "The Cannonball Run"
followed_by = "Speed Zone!"|"See also Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash"

"Cannonball Run II" (1984, Twentieth Century Fox) Like the original "Cannonball Run", this film is a comedy set around an illegal cross-country race. The all-star cast is listed below.

Despite its cast, it is widely considered to be silly in terms of plot development. However, many still appreciate it for its kitsch value. The film received eight Golden Raspberry Award nominations in 1984, including Worst Picture, Worst Actor, and Worst Actress, but no wins.It was followed by "Speed Zone!" in 1989, which did not feature Reynolds.

This was the last of the 'formula' comedies for Reynolds. It is also remembered as the final feature film appearances of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Their appearances, coupled with that of Sammy Davis, Jr. and Shirley MacLaine, marked the final on-screen appearance of the old Rat Pack team.

Cast

*Burt Reynolds as J.J. McClure
*Dom DeLuise as Victor Prinzi/Captain Chaos. DeLuise also appears uncredited as Don Canneloni
*Dean Martin as Jamie Blake
*Sammy Davis, Jr. as Morris Fenderbaum
*Jamie Farr as The Sheik
*Ricardo Montalban as The Sheik's father, The King
*Telly Savalas as Hymie Kaplan
*Marilu Henner as Betty
*Shirley MacLaine as Veronica
*Susan Anton as Jill
*Catherine Bach as Marcie
*Foster Brooks, Sid Caesar and Louis Nye as the fishermen in the rowboat
*Jackie Chan as Jackie Chan, Mitsubishi engineer
*Richard Kiel as Arnold, Jackie's driver
*Tim Conway and Don Knotts as California Highway Patrol officers who pull over the driving monkey
*Mel Tillis as Mel (back from the first film) and Tony Danza as Terry, the limo drivers with the orangutan
*Jack Elam as Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing
*Charles Nelson Reilly as Don Don Canneloni
*Michael V. Gazzo, Alex Rocco, Henry Silva and Abe Vigoda as Sonny, Tony, Slim and Caesar, Don Don's henchmen
*Jim Nabors as Private Homer Lyle, a parody of his popular character, Gomer Pyle
*Molly Picon reprises her role of Mrs. Goldfarb, Seymour's mother. In this film, Cannonballers drive into her house.
*Frank Sinatra as Frank Sinatra
*Joe Theismann as Mack, the truck driver who helps out Jill and Marcie
*Shawn Weatherly as the girl in Jamie Blake's bed
*Dale Ishimoto as a Japanese businessman
*Arte Johnson as a pilot
*Chris Lemmon as a young California Highway Patrol officer
*George Lindsey as Uncle Cal
*Doug McClure as The Sheik's servant
*Jilly Rizzo as Jilly
*Dub Taylor as a sheriff
*Director Hal Needham appears uncredited as a Mercedes-Benz 300SL driver in a cowboy hat

Plot Details

Having lost the first Cannonball Run race, Sheik Abdul Ben Falafel (Jamie Farr) is ordered by his father (Ricardo Montalban) to go back to America and win another Cannonball Run in order to "emblazon the Falafel name as the fastest in the world." When Sheik Abdul points out that there is no Cannonball Run that year, his father simply tells him to "buy one." To make sure his ulcer doesn't prevent him from winning, the Sheik hires Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing (Jack Elam), who raced with JJ (Burt Reynolds) and Victor (Dom DeLuise) in the first race, as his in-car physician. And he brings along a blond-haired servant (Doug McClure), who receives numerous slaps in the face from both the sheik and his father. Most of the rest of the participants from the first race are convinced to come back for the second race, including JJ and Victor, who have taken jobs working with a flying stunt crew.

In a subplot, Blake (Dean Martin) and Fenderbaum (Sammy Davis Jr.) are in financial trouble with mob enforcer Hymie Kaplan (Telly Savalas). When the Sheik manages to bail out the two by handing Hymie a stack of cash, Hymie comes to realize how much money the Sheik is worth. This also comes to the attention of Don Don Canneloni (Charles Nelson Reilly), who runs a bordello in the middle of the desert and has lost millions of dollars of the money of his father, Don Canneloni (also played by Dom DeLuise in a direct parody of The Godfather). In order to get the money he lost, Don Don has a couple of his men attempt to kidnap the Sheik during the middle of the race and ransom him off.

The race goes on without a hitch, with JJ and Victor dressed as a Marine general and his private driver. Just before the race, the two catch the attention of Betty (Marilu Henner) and Veronica (Shirley MacLaine), two women who are dressed as nuns for a musical, but who are willing to hitch a ride with JJ and Victor when they think the two will become overnight millionaires. As the race progresses, Don Don's enforcers continue to blunder one plan after another, with predictably slapstick results.

When the rest of the racers find out Don Don's plan, they band together to invade the bordello. JJ, Victor, and Fenderbaum infiltrate the bordello in drag, dressed as belly dancers. The rest of the racers barrel their way in with their cars and rescue the Sheik, who is reluctant to leave since he has his pick of women there. In the end, the Sheik bankrolls Don Don's bordello and then declares that he's upping the stakes to $2 million for the winner of the race. The rest of the racers quickly jump in their vehicles and make a dash for the finish line. The Sheik, as it turns out, lost yet again (this time blaming the doctor who rode with him for injecting him with an unknown substance), but convinces his father that he'll win the return trip race, having hired the winner of the last race. The Sheik's father introduces himself to the winner, who turns out to be an orangutan limo driver, with a penchant for destructive behavior and giving elderly ladies the middle finger.

At 1:00:38 in the movie there is a continuity error — the two racers (portrayed by Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.) disguised as policemen driving a red C4 Corvette run the General's (portrayed by Burt Reynolds) car off the road. However, as it's done, the car seen running the general's limo off the road is a Dodge Daytona or Chrysler Laser that was the car driven by Frank Sinatra's character.

Awards and nominations

*Golden Raspberry Awards:Nominated: Worst Picture:Nominated: Worst Screenplay:Nominated: Worst Actor (Burt Reynolds):Nominated: Worst Actress (Shirley MacLaine):Nominated: Worst Supporting Actor (Sammy Davis, Jr.):Nominated: Worst Supporting Actress (Susan Anton):Nominated: Worst Supporting Actress (Marilu Henner):Nominated: Worst Director (Hal Needham)

External links

*imdb title|id=0087032|title=Cannonball Run II
* [http://film.virtual-history.com/film.php?filmid=479 Movie stills]