When I think “Burn Notice,” stunt casting isn’t the first thing to come to mind. In fact, I don’t think they’ve ever relied on stunt casting, since they cast Bruce Campbell as Sam, that is. Tonight, though, a thing of brilliance was realized when they cast Burt Reynolds as Paul Anderson, “old-timer” spy.
The old guy’s still got it — comic timing, spot-on delivery, drunken slur…. His banter with Michael was fun, and I’ll share quotes at the end of the post, but even the non-verbal banter was great. When they were trying to crack the safe (you know, Paul’s own safe because he forgot the combination), Michael’s facial expressions were priceless and Paul’s no-nonsense attitude, then his annoying behavior was perfect. What a great scene.
Paul’s unbridled glee at being back in the spy game and killing Russians is second only to Fiona’s joy when she gets to blow things up, or hit people:
“This was my idea. I should have gotten to hit him!” – Fiona to Jesse
They didn’t just leave it at that, though. Paul’s character ended up with some real depth — his memory lapses weren’t due to just drinking and he gives Michael a great piece of advice: “All you really have in the end are your stories.”
One last thing — lay off Burt Reynolds. One of the worst-aging actors in Hollywood? People, he’s 74 years old and is recovering from a quintuple bypass and he still knocked it out of the ballpark tonight. There’s traffic-getting fluff pieces and then there’s just plain mean, and that little piece of nonsense crossed the line.
And now for the quotes:
“Do you know where this bar is?” – Michael
“Um, yeah. It’s a bar.” – Sam
“Were you burned?” – Sam
“No, but I’m a little toasty.” – Paul
“Have fun with the ghost of Christmas future.” – Sam to Michael, who is stuck with Paul, the “old timer” spy
“That’s me — the corner apartment.” – Paul
“Could you have picked an easier place for hostiles to stake out?” – Michael
“Yeah, like an apartment over a night club.” – Paul
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Jul 22, 2010 @ 22:26 EST5EDT
Hey, I am right with you Ms. McDuffee! I thought Burt Reynolds was absolutley great with his performance with character, Paul Anderson. He did not skip a beat with his comedic timing and character. Burt is a consumate professional. This is so apparent with his display of talent. What a wonderful pleasure ,to see some quality talent on television once again. Thanks, Burt! You will always be #1 in my books! Bring Burt back on the show, and add some style and class to this show!
Wow Burt looks good. Nice new hairpiece.
I grew up watching “Ein ausgekochtes Schlitzohr” (Smokey & the Bandit) over and over and over. Best movie EVER. The german voiceover was in parts so extremely wrong (offending black people, chinese et cetera) but then also so extremely funny for us kids. To this day my brother and I keep quoting from that movie, almost 30 years later. There are some roles Burt is just perfect for (Boogie Nights anyone?) and I think he’s good for this show which keeps bringing old stars back time after time. I mean it all fits perfectly. It’s Florida, no wonder old people show up on set all the time ;-)