Geezers Catch Hollywood's Eye
Three of the hottest movies opening this weekend include a Wesley Snipes action film, a Burt Reynolds/Richard Dreyfuss comedy and a satirical cheerleader romp.
The Art Of War stars Snipes as a covert American operative trying to prevent the downfall of the United Nations.
The comedy about competing cheerleaders, Bring It On, is one that CBS News The Early Show Contributor Laurie Hibberd thinks may hit it big because it has "a lot of great buzz" and "kids will want to see it."
And The Crew stars 64-year-old Reynolds as an aging mobster who must return to his old profession in order to save his retirement home.
Hibberd sat down with Burt Reynolds in Miami, where The Crew was filmed, to talk about his latest role. He did his own stunts, blithely confiding, "I can still fall down; I just can't get up."
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Lately Hollywood has been taking a break from its obsession with youth. Space Cowboys, starring 70-year-old Clint Eastwood and 72-year-old James Garner, has been one of the top five films for the past three weeks. Under Suspicion, starring Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman, is also due out. But Reynolds doesn't think the trend will last.
"There just aren't that many films that will get a green light because there is a whole bunch of executives that - I have things in my refrigerator that are older than them," said Reynolds. "If the pendulum were to swing, I don't think it would swing to the point where (executives would say), 'Let's go make a bunch of pictures with old people.'"
Reynolds has been lighting up the big screen for more than 40 years. He was the most popular actor for five years straight. While best known for Deliverance, Smokey and the Bandit and i>The Longest Yard, it was the 1997 movie Boogie Nights which earned him an Oscar nomination.
He has mixed feelings about getting old. "Somebody who is a lot smarter than me once said the only thing great about getting old is something sage falls out of your mouth. And there is also something sexy about somebody who's kind of got it together...even though if you took them somewhere, they would faint."
Hibberd reports that the one film that Reynolds feels defines him as an actor is Starting Over, co-starring Candice Bergen.
"He apparently had to fight for the role. He had to audition, because the director didn't want him. He won them over," Hibberd said.