You just hate to see a perfectly good Rolls Royce destroyed. Crushed to nothingness by a dozen other cars. And then explode in a huge fireball when the gas tanks from all of them are lit up. But that’s just one of the many thrills in this totally silly, totally fun little movie that’s basically a chance for Ron Howard to learn his directing chops.
1977’s Grand Theft Auto was Howard’s first feature film directing assignment, made while on a break from Happy Days and a companion piece to his acting stint in Eat My Dust from the year before. They were more or less a package deal Howard made with all-time B movie producing champ Roger Corman. Howard knew he wanted to direct, not act, and Corman was always happy to give nearly anyone a chance to write, direct, or act in one his films–they were made for relative pennies, so why not?
Howard followed GTA (and you have to wonder if this wasn’t some part of the inspiration for the vastly annoying videogame series of the same name) with a trio of TV movies, while he was still stuck in the TV show, but then he got the chance to direct Nightshift and he essentially never acted again. If you’ve seen him on an awards show or interview, you can understand why. He just does not make a good looking bald man!
The film. Essentially a sequence of car chases, car crashes, explosions, and bad puns set off when Howard’s character, Sam Freeman, elopes to Las Vegas with Paula (Nancy Morgan, John Ritter’s ex-wife), daughter of millionaire and gubenatorial candidate Bigby Powers. Daddy is not happy, and neither is snobby rich boy Collins Hedgeworth, who thinks he’s engaged to Paula. They set out after the lovebirds and each starts offering big cash rewards for assistance in stopping them from reaching the wedding chapel. Every idiot and his brother get involved and the chase gets deeper and deeper. Of course Ron finds parts for his brothers Clint and Rance (Rance and Ron even wrote the script).
Not exactly sophisticated humor but a fun way to spend an afternoon.
Recommended
BillSaysThis 