5 best films starring Burt Reynolds

The late Burt Reynolds was one of the most iconic actors during the 1970s and was considered a s*x symbol in popular American culture. Reynolds has the record for being the world's most popular box office star (a record he shares with Bing Crosby) for five years running (1978–1982) as per the yearly Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll.

Burt Reynolds is considered a legendary figure in Hollywood who had an incredible range of movies from serious to comedy, and his antics and wisecracking quips had audiences laughing for centuries. Although Smokey and the Bandit is his most well-known film, he has several other flicks to his credit that demonstrate his captivating personality.

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5 Best Burt Reynolds Movies

1) Boogie Nights (1997)

Boogie Nights is regarded by many as the best performance by Reynolds to date. In this, Paul Thomas Anderson Burt Reynolds plays the role of Jack Horner, an adult film director who meets Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg), a well-built and attractive young man who will become known as Dirk Diggler.

Jack introduces Eddie to the world of adult entertainment but Eddie begins to lose himself in the journey. As Wahlberg's character spiraled out of control, we see Reynolds in a serious role.

Reynolds received his first Golden Globe Award for the role of Jack, along with his first Academy Award nomination and his second Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.

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.2) Deliverance (1972)

Reynolds goes into the woods with a group of businessmen, hoping to have a wonderful time in the great outdoors, but what they get instead is a devastating and disastrous experience.

This movie covers a wide range of topics, leaving little room for speculation. It discusses murders, stalking, r*pe, survival skills, catastrophic losses, and lying to the police.

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3) The Longest Yard (1974)

Paul "Wrecking" Crewe (Reynolds), a former professional football player, gets jailed for robbing his fiancée of her car in Robert Aldrich's sports comedy. Once there, he puts together a football squad consisting of inmates to play a team of guards who confidently enter the field, believing they will defeat Crewe's motley crew of losers.

Reynolds earned his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of Crewe.

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4) Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

In this timeless movie, Reynolds plays The Bandit, a truck driver hired with just 28 hours to smuggle Coors beer over state lines for the wealthy Big Enos Burdette and his son Little Enos's upcoming celebration. After The Bandit enlists Cledus Snow, another trucker, as a companion, their trip from Atlanta to Texarkana is largely uneventful.

On the way back, though, they are pursued by a horde of "smokeys" (cops) as well as the insane Buford T. Justice and his dimwitted son. Not to add that Bandit is traveling with a talkative, runaway wife named Carrie in his Pontiac Trans Am. This can be considered one of the best Burt Reynolds movies since it's clever and entertaining.

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5) Starting Over (1979)

Reynolds portrayed Phil, a New York professional who leaves his unfaithful wife (Candice Bergen) and returns to his family in Boston. There, he is set up romantically with a nursery school teacher (Jill Clayburgh), and the two of them embark on what is typically a rocky romance.

This romantic comedy directed by Alan J. Pakula featured Reynolds in a rare role for him. Reynolds received a second Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of Phil.

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Burt Reynolds has been one of the finest actors to have graced Hollywood and these five films are an ode to his range of acting abilities.