Stick (film)
| Stick | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Burt Reynolds |
| Produced by |
Jennings Lang Robert Daley |
| Written by |
Elmore Leonard Joseph Stinson |
| Based on | novel by Elmore Leonard |
| Starring | |
| Distributed by | Universal Studios |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
109 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $22 million |
| Box office | $8,489,518 |
Stick is a 1985 American crime film directed by and starring Burt Reynolds, based on the novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard.
Ernest "Stick" Stickley, a former car thief, has just been released from prison. He meets up with an old friend, Rainy, whose "quick stop" near the Florida Everglades before they go home is an illegal drug deal that goes sour. With his friend dead, Stick needs to hide out for a while to elude the killers who must eliminate him as a witness.
While lying low, Stick finds himself in the right place at the right time when he helps a wealthy eccentric named Barry get into his locked car. Hired as a driver, he has a comfortable home with a stable job and tries to make up for lost time with Katie, his teen-age daughter. He also finds a new flame in Kyle, a financial consultant who acts as a business adviser for Barry, who must decide what of Stick can be salvaged.
Before he can move on, however, Stick confronts drug dealer Chucky to demand the money owed to his murdered friend. Chucky refuses and sends albino hit-man Moke after the ex-con. Stick can't get on with his new life without cleaning up old business first. He becomes the target of Moke as well as the cartel that employs Chucky, led by the voodoo-obsessed Nestor.
A three-way confrontation on a high-rise balcony ends in Chucky's and Moke's deaths. Stick must then rely on his quick wit and fists to deal with his final enemy, Nestor, who has kidnapped Stick's daughter.
"I wanted to make that movie as soon as I read the book," said Reynolds. "I respected Leonard's work. I felt I knew that Florida way of life, having been raised in the state. And I was that guy!"
Famed stuntman Dar Robinson played the albino hit-man, Moke. His character's death scene, falling from the side of a building while firing a gun, uses Robinson's invention, a decelerator, so cameras could film from above without a visible airbag below (a scattering crowd of people below can also be seen in this shot). This was Robinson's first and last acting break (as opposed to pure stunt work). In 1986 he died in an off-set motorcycle accident.
Reynolds recalled "I turned in my cut of the picture and truly thought I had made a good film. Word got back to me quickly that the people in the Black Tower [Universal's head office] wanted a few changes."
The studio pulled the movie from its release schedule and asked Reynolds to reshoot the second half of the film. A new writer was brought in along with a subplot involving his character reuniting with his daughter post-prison. Reynolds says his agent advised him to go along with the changes:
...
Wikipedia