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Stroker Ace

Play trailer Poster for Stroker Ace PG 1983 1h 36m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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19% Tomatometer 16 Reviews 50% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Confident NASCAR driver Stroker Ace (Burt Reynolds) runs into problems when a confrontation with his commercial sponsor causes him to lose his contract. Clyde Torkel (Ned Beatty), the owner of a fried-chicken chain, immediately asks Stroker to be the face of his company. After some pushing by Clyde and his marketing executive, Pembrook Feeney (Loni Anderson), Stroker signs on without even reading his obligations. He then finds himself legally bound to a horrible contract, with no end in sight.
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Stroker Ace

Critics Reviews

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Gary Arnold Washington Post 04/23/2018
A knuckleheaded but amiable summer trifle. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 10/23/2004
1.5/4
Burt Reynolds used to make movies about people's lifestyles. Now he seems more interested in making movies that fit in with his own lifestyle. Go to Full Review
Vincent Canby New York Times 08/30/2004
1.5/5
It's a witless retread of the earlier, far funnier road-movie collaborations of Mr. Needham and Mr. Reynolds. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 02/17/2023
1/4
This brain-numbing horror just might be Burt's worst ever. Go to Full Review
TV Guide 07/16/2008
0/4
Burt Reynolds hits new lows as he mugs his way through this film. Go to Full Review
Chuck O'Leary Fantastica Daily 01/27/2006
3/4
A zany cornpone comedy that made me laugh. So sue me. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Tyler S @tylerking24 Mar 18 As a NASCAR fan, I think this is one of the best NASCAR adaptations we've seen. Good plot, fun characters, and an overall enjoyable time. See more Ravenswood R 09/11/2023 All eyes are on Stroker Ace as he checks his toupee, chases women, gets in rowdy but good natured bar fights, pulls pranks, and makes a series of very bad decisions regarding his stock car racing career. He accomplishes this by questioning nothing and going along with whatever dimwitted opportunities arise around him. If you wonder: Is Miller Beer interested in buying a fast food chicken restaurant chain? Yes. Is Jim Nabors a head mechanic who spends no time working on cars? Yes. And, are there people in chicken costumes? Is there a jaunty country theme song? Is Loni Anderson in it? Yes, yes, and yes. Is it funny? No. This entire project is a hopeful cash grab and displays a complete lack of respect for the audience, although you could argue the characters, including Stroker, are so dumb they actually make the audience feel better about themselves. Anything they put on the screen is good enough for the moron segment of the American public with $2.50 in their pocket in 1983, but being dumb is not necessarily being forgetful, and people have already seen this several times before, so it deserves to flop, and it does. I give it three stars for the name Stoker Ace, because it is the only cool and memorable thing about the movie. See more 12/11/2022 Fun movie good racing movie See more 08/23/2018 Oh, what could have been. This movie was based on the very funny book "Stand On It" by "Stroker Ace", (the nom de plume of Bill Neely & Bob Ottum). but was an utter disaster. The book is screamingly, outrageously side splitting hilarious, mixing real life off track incidents, (where the name were changed to protect the guilty), with a straightforward, (if also satirical), look at what it's like to be a race car driver. When I read the book in the 70s, well before the movie came out, I literally envisioned both Burt & Ned Beatty in their respective roles. That part of the casting was dead on perfect. But the film is destroyed by a witless script by Hugh Wilson, (WKRP & the first Police Academy film), & Hal Needham, Smokey & The Bandit & the first sequel to it, the first two Cannonball Run flicks), & directed by Needham. So, we get the names of some of the main characters from the book, about a page & a half of the book's dialogue at the most, & the rest is Smokey & The Bandit Go Racing with Bubba Smith recreating his schtick from Police Academy.. Oh yes, we also get Burt's latest squeeze, (at the time), Loni Anderson, completely wasted in the film, & Jim Nabors is just kind of there. It's horrible, it's vapid, & it's not funny in the least. Oh, did i mention the skin crawling, slimy, disturbing & unfunny attempted rape scene, where Burt gets Loni, (playing a virgin!) drunk on champagne, & almost takes advantage of her after she passes out, breaking the fourth wall, as he attempts to rationalize the act to us in the audience? Yep, that's in this terrible movie. Before watching this piece of garbage, I'd recommend gouging your eyes out with a hot poker instead. See more probowl 4 11/30/2017 A handful of comedic moments keep this mediocre film as a semi-cult hit within the NASCAR community but that's about it. See more 02/06/2017 Director Hal Needham and his star Burt Reynolds seem to be making their favorite kind of movie over again, indulging on a budget of fast cars, objectified blondes, and smug, sour comedy. See more Read all reviews
Stroker Ace

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Movie Info

Synopsis Confident NASCAR driver Stroker Ace (Burt Reynolds) runs into problems when a confrontation with his commercial sponsor causes him to lose his contract. Clyde Torkel (Ned Beatty), the owner of a fried-chicken chain, immediately asks Stroker to be the face of his company. After some pushing by Clyde and his marketing executive, Pembrook Feeney (Loni Anderson), Stroker signs on without even reading his obligations. He then finds himself legally bound to a horrible contract, with no end in sight.
Director
Hal Needham
Producer
Hank Moonjean, Laurel Goodwin
Screenwriter
Hugh Wilson, Hal Needham, David Peckinpah
Production Co
Warner Bros., Universal Pictures
Rating
PG
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2008
Runtime
1h 36m
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