Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that The Cannonball Run is one of a handful of popular comedies from the early 1980s in which irreverent daredevils on a quest try to outwit their competitors and the buffoonish law-enforcement officers who try to stop them. The movie stars Burt Reynolds and his sidekick Dom DeLuise on a cross-country auto race. Car stunts -- crashes, explosions, autos sailing through the air, high-speed chases -- provide the action. Exaggerated caricatures -- an Arab sheik, Japanese high-tech/martial-arts experts, a Jewish mother, a stutterer, good ol' boys, and plenty of curvy, dimwitted women and their barely covered breasts -- provide the humor. Profanity and slurs (i.e., "schmuck," "a--hole," "hookers," "s--t," "gang-bang"). Racial jokes are directed at an "always-the-good-sport" Sammy Davis Jr. In addition to the vehicle hijinks and sexual leering, drinking alcoholic beverages -- often to excess -- is a constant pastime for the crew. Beer is the drink of choice, and it's sometimes consumed even while the characters are at the wheels of their speeding vehicles.

Sexual Content

Every female, no matter how skilled, is included as "eye candy." They wear skimpy clothing and plunging necklines and use their appealing bodies (especially breasts) to distract men and get what they want. Lead female is a beautiful airhead who simply (and literally) goes along for the ride. Men ogle; women flirt.

Violence

Cartoonish action (without injuries or death) throughout. Car stunts: high-speed chases, explosions, crashes into structures, cars sailing in the air. Hand-to-hand fighting: a bar brawl, martial-arts combat, some slaps and knockdowns.

Language

Swearing and coarse language: "hell," "dammit," "rectum," "pr--k," "goddamn," "s--t," "ass." Sexual innuendo and insults: "piece of tail," "t-tty," "hookers," "getting laid," "gangbang," "putz," "schmuck." Comic ethnic insults (for example, "chocolate monk"), generally using Sammy Davis Jr.'s and Jackie Chan's ethnicities as the butt of humor.

Social Behavior

Values friendship and camaraderie.

Consumerism

Some featured, some incidental: Goodyear, Hawaiian Tropic, Nikon, Midas, GMC, Best Western, Budweiser, Ferrari, Dr Pepper, Subaru, Ruffles potato chips.

Drugs / Tobacco / Alcohol

Frequent comic drinking and drunkenness: Beer is purchased, loaded into cars, and consumed with alacrity, even while characters are driving. Several characters get drunk; Dean Martin plays a longstanding inebriated character. A bizarre "doctor" seems always under the influence of a mind-altering substance and wields a hypodermic needle, threatening and injecting people at will. Smoking.