It may be helpful, for those who find such comparisons difficult, to see the comic personas of Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood side by side, the better to gauge the superiority of the latter. The gap would not be so wide if they were both in their non-comic personas. But that's because the gap is less wide -- less yawning, you might say -- between the two opposed Eastwood personas. Reynolds, as a Kansas City private eye in the Prohibition Era, does us an occasional favor and crosses over. The apparent plan, with period atmosphere pumped into every square inch, and star value doubled, was to do another The Sting. It comes all too close. With Jane Alexander, Madeline Kahn, and Irene Cara; directed by Richard Benjamin. (1984) — Duncan Shepherd