Movies
Stick
Diminutive of Stickley, but perhaps just as well of Stick-in-the-Mud: a middle-aged ex-convict hopelessly out of step after seven years in the slammer. Burt Reynolds plays the part in a near whisper, to denote weary sensitivity, or, on specific other occasions, concerned fatherliness and assured sexuality. He sometimes slips into his talk-show "guest-host" persona, too, with rolling eyeballs, sidelong smirks, and so forth. He never, however, slips into character. The bad guys, in contrast, are well recognizable by their bad makeup and bad costumes: the oddly epicene Charles Durning, in shoulder-length orange wig and tent-sized Hawaiian sports shirts, and his black-cowboy-hatted albino henchman. Other, more promising characters -- George Segal's cigar-waving "crime groupie" and a voodoo-practicing drug dealer -- are merely badly acted. With Candice Bergen; directed by Reynolds. 1985.
Reader Rating:
MPAA Rating: R
