Filmed just months before his death in 2018, “Burt Reynolds: The Last Interview” is a touching reminder for those who were there and for those who were not of what a unique screen star Reynolds was in the 1970s. From his breakout in “Deliverance" which catapulted him from TV actor to movie star to “The Longest Yard” and “Semi-Tough” which drew on his football playing years, Reynolds’s tough guy persona was tempered by good humor and self-effacing charm. His now iconic “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Cannonball Run” films made him, from 1978 through 1982, one of the biggest box office draws in Hollywood.
But “Burt Reynolds: The Last Interview" isn’t the full-fledged documentary the actor deserves. Director Rick Pamplin was able to get Reynolds to sit down for an interview at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, formerly the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre, in Jupiter, Florida where Reynolds had established his second career as a respected acting teacher. It’s hard to watch Reynolds who’s clearly ill and sometimes struggling during the conversation. As an interviewer, Pamplin is gushing in his praise. But it allows Reynolds to show his humility, graciousness and down to earth qualities as he discusses his career and advice he’d give young actors. Reynolds died in September 2018 at age 82. The film is padded with other interviews including Todd Vittum, the actor’s close friend and colleague at the theater who shares what happened during Reynolds’ final days.
Other than Reynolds himself, the only other interview likely to interest fans of the actor is with Quentin Tarantino who provides colorful material about working with Reynolds, whom he’d long admired, on “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Reynolds was thrilled that he’d been cast as George Spahn, the real-life owner and operator of the Southern California ranch where several Westerns were shot before the Charles Manson clan settled in. Reynolds, a veteran of TV westerns who knew Spahn, was in preparation for the role when he died and Bruce Dern was cast.
Tarantino dispels rumors that Brad Pitt’s stuntman character in the film was based on Reynolds, who was known for doing many of his own stunts. Reynolds was a far bigger star than Pitt’s character, Tarantino says. He also shares a humorous story about Reynolds advising Tarantino to include a line in the film about Pitt’s handsomeness because no real stuntman looked like him.
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