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Sat 13 September 2025 1:00, UK
For a good ten years or so, Burt Reynolds was untouchable.
Thanks to roles in Smokey and the Bandit, The Longest Yard, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, he dominated the box office and could basically do no wrong in the eyes of the public or those with the money. He topped the annual ‘Money Making Stars Poll’ five years in a row, a record only matched by the great Bing Crosby. However, what goes up must come down.
In the early 1980s, the Reynolds magic began to wear off. He turned down Jack Nicholson’s part in Terms of Endearment to play a racing driver in Stroker Ace, a massive failure both critically and commercially. This was followed by The Man Who Loved Women, Stick, and Rent-A-Cop, all of which flopped. He had gotten bad reviews during his prime, but the fact that he couldn’t turn a profit anymore was something he couldn’t get over.
One of the major indicators of his career downturn was 1984’s City Heat. Reynolds starred opposite Clint Eastwood, heading up a potential-rich cast that featured Jane Alexander, Rip Torn, and Irene Cara, and yet, he knew the movie was doomed, and things were about to get worse for the actor.
“Ten days after shooting began, I knew I was going to take the fall,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “Clint was playing formula Clint that always worked for Clint. I was playing Jack Lemmon in this strange film where people were getting blown away… The public wanted Boom Town or to see us in a contemporary film. They didn’t want ‘Dirty Harry vs the Wimp’. It’s regrettable; the material wasn’t there, because Hollywood or maybe just Warner Bros will never let Clint and I act together again.”
A buddy cop comedy, City Heat paired the two screen icons together for the first time ever. Eastwood plays a high-flying police officer while Reynolds is a wisecracking private eye who once served on the force. When the latter’s partner is killed by the mob, the pair team up to take them down. Given the star power involved, Warner Bros expected the movie to be a major hit. Sadly, their predictions were wrong. The film lost money at the box office and, to make matters worse, the reviews were terrible.
City Heat turned out to be a disaster for Reynolds in more ways than one. On the first day of filming, a stunt gone wrong left him seriously injured. As for his career, that was left in a pretty sore state too. He was nominated for a Razzie for his performance, the latest in a long line of duds for the once-bankable star. It wouldn’t be until his supporting role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights that the legend would be taken seriously again.
It may have all worked out in the end for the moustachioed pin-up, but not every actor is lucky enough to get a second chance that late in life. As usual, this is a case of thank God for PTA.
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