I have always been a great admirer of Burt Reynolds. In the past I have seen about a dozen of his movies and I believe that he is without a doubt one of the biggest stars to come out of the seventies. He is a subtle and polished actor who works with a great amount of professionalism. .
A particular favourite movie of mine is "Hooper" which he made in 1978. In my opinion it is one of his greatest movies, It is set in Hollywood where Reynolds plays Sonny Hooper, a stunt man. The character of Hooper lives on the edge with reckless abandon and this I think reflects Burt Reynolds himself, as he was also reckless and cocky. The movie concerns a director who comes up with an astounding finish to a movie he is finishing but it needs a vast and almighty car jump to complete the job, A car jump which has never been attempted before which is where Hooper comes in. The character of Hooper attempts to get out of the stunt but in the end the lure of fame, glory and of course money is too much to resist. This could also reflect Burt Reynolds as a person as he sought fame, recognition and glory through his movie career in Hollywood. This though for me was a very entertaining movie.
Another particular favourite of mine was "Boogie Nights". In this Burt Reynolds put forward a performance, which both amazed and shocked cinemagoers but which earned a newfound admiration and praise. In this Reynolds plays the part of Jack Horner, A small time director of pornographic movies. He discovers a new star to mould in the form of Mark Wahlberg, who plays Eddie Adams, and attempts to create the greatest piece of pornographic film in the industry so he can finally achieve greatness in his chosen field of profession. Again I think that Burt Reynolds shows through here as strives to obtain greatness in the movie industry. Although he made many popular movies and had great performances in such films as "Deliverance" and "Boogie Nights" I don't believe he has been given the recognition he deserves.