Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Step aside Darth Vader. Meet the new best movie villain ever, Moke. Villain Moke is right up there with Vader, the Kurgin, and other great movie villains. For Dar Robinson's performance as Moke, alone, this movie is a must-see. Burt plays Stick, a fresh-out-of-prison con trying to make over his life. He gets unwillingly sucked back into the underworld and has to fight to survive. Dar Robinson, stuntman extraordinaire, puts in a fantastic performance as Moke- an albino hit-man who has it in for Stick. There are some amazing scenes in this movie, and I think it may be one of Burt's best performances- if not the best.

I know that many people have mixed feelings about this story. Once I saw a comedian on the cable comedy channel using 'stick' to slam in his act, of the worst Burt Reynolds movies ever. But I contend, even so with Burt at the helm of this 'ship', that the story was told by a master at story creating and telling. He (Leonard) has not liked almost all the adaptations to the screen from his books with the exception of 'Get Shorty' which, well...how do you beat that one??? At any rate, the story I liked, there was enough to keep me 'into it'. Even though I like a lot of different movies, I don't like every movie I see. This was a right-cut for Burt Reynolds I thought. He pulled the character off, in the manner in which he does, in 'waves'. He's had mono-tone performances and out and out wild ones too. Whatever the critics think or say, there was a great cast and the location was perfect as well. I can live with this Burt-directed story from 1985, heck why not, it was the eighties.

This is the first film of Burt Reynolds' I have seen that he directed as well as starred in. Yes, some elements of the story are clunky but overall STICK is very enjoyable. Reynolds gives an excellent performance as always. Charles Durning is quite good as Chucky but is let down by the very obvious wig he is wearing for the part (at least I HOPE it's a wig). George Segal and Candice Bergen are both good as well, but it's strange how Reynolds and Bergen immediately get into a romance.Stuntman Dar Robinson also makes a memorable villain as albino hit-man Moke. Since he was a stuntman I guess that means he did all his own stunts for the movie, which makes it even more cool. Very few stuntmen are good actors but Robinson plays the part well. The only problem is we don't see enough of him. The BIG bad guy, Nester, is played brilliantly too, but the actor's name escapes me right now. There's also a lovely song played over the end credits. I'm interested in reading the Elmore Leonard book this film was based on. I'm sure it and the film may be very different, but I still give the movie STICK a thumbs-up. I think it should get a DVD release.

This movie is based on Elmore Leonard's novel of the same name, but for those looking for the novel while waiting for the movie to reappear on television or on order from Amazon, don't bother, unless you're a fan of Elmore Leonard's work. While Mr. Leonard should be given more than due credit for his adaptation to movie, the real work was done by Mr. Reynolds, who plays the character true to form.I have to admit that one reason I love this film is because of its leading lady. Ms. Bergen seems to be able to play her own character in this film, rather than playing off Burt's character. Two of the best scenes are the one where she sums up the movie producer's porposal as fraud, and of course the intimate scene in her bedroom with Burt's character.I am old enough to remember when this movie came out in the theaters. One review in a popular men's magazine at the time panned the movie, largely faulting Burt's performance (as I interpreted the review). Having been a fan of Mr. Reynolds films for many years, I was glad to see that he didn't seem to take such reviews to heart at the time, and continues to entertain us, even today.