It is no secret that I am a child of the 70s and there was no bigger star in the late half of that decade and the early part of the next, than Burt Reynolds. Having lived through that era, I can certainly attest to his popularity. I think it was best summed up in one of the interviews, that he made being famous look fun. And he truly did, women loved him, men wanted to hang with him. He exuded a very easy going charm. If I've learned anything from this project thus far, it's being famous isn't always fun. A lot of the time it is decidedly not so and watching this documentary will teach you that again. Being loved by the world just doesn't fix the broken parts of you.
I really enjoyed the interviews in this. I was pleasantly surprised to see ex-wife Loni Anderson, their break-up was not reported as being amicable at the time. She did seem to speak about him with genuine warmth, time heals all wounds as they say. I found all the people interviewed spoke of him with much affection, while still recognizing him as a flawed human and perhaps a person who was not at peace with himself.
I think this documentary really showcases Burt Reynolds as something of an underrated actor. I think the charming southern boy movies served him very well, but it kind of stuck him there. Perhaps if he had taken that role in Terms of Endearment, things would have taken a different swing career-wise, but really who's to say? This documentary was a warm serving of nostalgia that I enjoyed very much.
We watched this on Crave.
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