It looked like the perfect, can't-miss film for early 1980s audiences. Pair the two top box-office attractions of recent years - Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds - in a prohibition era comedy/action film reminiscent of The Sting. What went wrong? The question should be: what didn't go wrong? The film underwent a number of pre-production problems that saw several title changes (it was originally called Kansas City Jazz) and the departure of original director Blake Edwards over "creative differences". Richard Benjamin replaced him, but by then the script was a scattershot affair with the fingerprints of numerous contributors, each of whom seemed to have a different vision of the story. The film marked the decline of Burt Reynolds, both in terms of popularity and physically. Reynolds suffered a severe injury when a stunt went wrong. He entered a long period of poor health as he tried to recover, but also had to cope with mean-spirited rumors that he had AIDS. (This was during the period in which Rock Hudson succumbed to the dreaded disease.) The movie was a rare flop for Eastwood, but we always feel that as disappointing as the film is on many levels, it has a certain charm highlighted by the byplay between Eastwood and Reynolds, the latter of whom gives a deft, comedic performance. Writer Nathan Rabin on the web site the AV Club has a more jaundiced look at the end result. To read his analysis of how this "can't-miss" project missed by a mile, click here