bkoganbing When Bewitched was running on television half of the plots involved Darrin's job where he and Larry Tate every week contended with yet another egotistical company president. The plot of Stroker Ace hearkens back to those days of Bewitched and it has Burt Reynolds as a NASCAR driver doing everything possible to get out from under a contract with a sponsor who's a blithering idiot.Although Burt certainly gets in his innings in Stroker Ace, especially seeing him in a chicken suit and driving his car in a race in one, the best one in Stroker Ace by far is Ned Beatty. Beatty got an Academy Award nomination for playing the all powerful, malevolent media mogul in Network. Here he takes the same character and plays it for laughs and he's absolutely hysterical. Beatty owns a fried chicken company and he could easily have been one of McMahon&Tate's clients from Bewitched. If outrageous overacting lead by Ned Beatty isn't reason enough to watch Stroker Ace, than certainly the curvaceous Loni Anderson should do. Loni is giving out with her best Marilyn Monroe imitation as Beatty's advertising person who thinks that what Beatty is asking of Reynolds is tasteless and stupid. Of course she falls for Burt on the screen and in real life.I'm not a NASCAR fan, but I don't think you have to be to watch Stroker Ace and enjoy it. I have however become a fan of the Professional Bull Riders in recent years and they have their sponsors set up in a similar fashion as does NASCAR for its various drivers. I don't think the PBR has any sponsors as outrageous as Ned Beatty. If this film was about the PBR I can just see Beatty insisting to Guilherme Marchi that he ride a bull in a chicken suit or something equally bizarre.The film got bad reviews and I can't see why. It's not sophisticated comedy to be sure, but it's not all that bad. And Ned Beatty alone is worth seeing and appreciating Stroker Ace.

Jonathon Dabell It occurs to me that some of the films that have been banned during the course of cinema history were actually very important and very good films. I'd like to argue that instead of banning challenging, controversial movies the censors should consider banning films that are so bad that they pose a threat to your IQ and your sanity. If they were to do so one of the first films to be quickly hidden away would undoubtedly be "Stroker Ace". This film is awful with a capital 'A'. It is the worst film Burt Reynolds ever starred in.... quite a feat for for a man with "Cannonball Run II", "Cop And A Half" and "Rent-A-Cop" on his CV!The wafer-thin story introduces us to successful stock car racer Stroker Ace (Reynolds), a man who loves fast cars and fast women. He gets stuck in a demeaning contract with crooked promoter Clyde Torkle (Ned Beatty). The contract requires him to do some humiliating promotional work for a new chain of fast food restaurants, such as dressing up as a giant chicken. Thrown into the mix are Lugs (Jim Nabors), Ace's dim-witted pal, and Pembrook Feeney (Loni Anderson), a bimbo with a brain fractionally smaller than a pea who is wooed by Ace.Hal Needham, the director of this low-grade garbage, was formerly a stuntman and he made numerous films that relied on his expertise in staging spectacular stunts and car chases/races. Some of these films were OK, like "Hooper" and "Stunts Unlimited", but with "Stroker Ace" he reaches a career nadir. The characters are so stupid that you actually feel pity for the actors playing them. Anderson especially is saddled with such a dumb role that it makes you grind your teeth with despair. The humour is weak and infantile throughout, and the stunts and race sequences are unremarkable. Even the out-takes during the closing credits (which can be found in all the Reynolds-Needham collaborations) are generally unfunny, which gives the impression that maybe the film wasn't much fun to make. "Stroker Ace" is a stinker of considerable magnitude.

chez-3 Burt Reynolds came to a point in his career where he appeared to just be going thru the motions. He'd show up, party with his friends on film, and take home a big paycheck. It didn't seem to matter to him that the product he was representing was pure crap.No film epitomized this more than "Stroker Ace" which makes "Cannonball Run" look like a classic and "Cannonball Run II" look watchable. Save for a few race scenes there is absolutely NOTHING worth seeing here. Even the beautiful Loni Anderson hams it up so bad as a dumb blonde it's embarrassing.If the thought of Burt hamming it up with Jim Nabors and dressing like a chicken sounds funny then this is your movie. Otherwise pick almost any other film comedy and it won't be any worse.

ary Stroker Ace,a film directed by Hal Needham (the same director of such souped-up hits,like Smokey and The Bandit and Hooper),is a real surprise for the audience!it offers a lot of fun and laughs,all of this accomplished by dangerous and incredible scenes of action,which make Speed look like a boring movie!the character was made for Burt Reynolds,and combines with his own personality and way of interpretation!it's a nice movie,that everybody should discover,specially because it symbolizes a time when what really counted in the box-offices was the protagonist's charisma,and not stupid special effects!good times,when Burt was the best...and this time is going to be back!