As death continues it’s relentless march through the gifted and talented of TV and film, My Favourite… celebrates those we have lost by taking a look at a slice of their best work. Well sometimes best, sometimes just the one I like the most.

This time out: My Favourite…. Burt Reynolds (1936-2018) Film

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CANNONBALL RUN (1981)

Contestants in a cross-country car race from Connecticut to California include a speed-loving racing driver disguised as an ambulance driver and his dimwitted sidekick, a pair of Ferrari-driving priests, and a James Bond-type character kitted out with secret weapons. Jackie Chan appears in one of his first US film roles.

There are better Burt Reynolds’ films for sure.  Boogie Nights, Deliverance… and so many more besides.  But the one that forever holds my favour is Cannonball Run.  A romp with a whose who of Hollywood’s stars (Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jnr, Dom DeLuise… the list goes on), The Cannonball Run is camp, silly and a bundle of fun.  Reynolds’ delivers his trade mark snigger and shows that star power can out strip even the most silly of plots.  I adore this film and it happily sits in my Top 10 of all time.

See also: Smokey And The Bandit, Deliverance, The Longest yard