Towards the 30 minute mark of Stroker Ace Loni Anderson stands outside in the balcony with Burt Reynolds and asks him why does he keep on racing, to which Reynolds sighs and answers hesitantly — ”I don’t know – it’s uh, kind of hard to explain”.

The answer would’ve likely been the same had someone asked him why does he keep on doing all these car chase movies.

Reynolds had already totally drained the genre with Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run and their uninspired sequels, and in Stroker Ace he goes on to flogging the dead horse with a movie that manages to be considerably poorer than the previous ones. Once again we see Reynolds playing the slick, wise-cracking yippie ki-yay playboy head over heels in love with himself. It’s an already tired routine that grows even older 5 minutes into the film.

Directed by Reynolds’ long time mate Hal Needham – a stunt man converted to a movie maker – the movie ends with his trademark blooper reel, even which fails to amuse.

80s-o-meter: 58%

Total: 13%