Over the Top Movie Review

Over the Top (1987)

Rent Over the Top on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Gary Conway and David Engelbach (story), Stirling Silliphant and Sylvester Stallone (screenplay)
Directed by: Menahem Golan
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Robert Loggia, Susan Blakelyn
Rated: PG
Watch the trailer

Plot
Trucker Lincoln Hawk must win an arm wrestling tournament to reunite with his estranged son.

Verdict
I can't call this a good movie, but everyone should watch it once. It's pure '80s with montages and ridiculous dialog as it tries to weave a heartfelt story of a father and son reuniting with a plot about truck driving and arm wrestling. It's not a bad movie, but it has enough ridiculousness that you need the Over the Top experience in your life.
It depends. Watch it.

Review
This movie endeavors to make truck driving the epitome of cool. I wondered if Stallone did all of his own big rig driving, but I don't think he did. There is a cutaway from a long shot of the truck parking to Stallone jumping out. The big rig is just too much for Stallone.

What is up with suspenders in this movie? Did suspenders sponsor it? Stallone's character Lincoln Hawk wears them when visiting his son's fancy school, and even while washing his truck. I don't know why. Of course people talk about him and it's not because he's a truck driver, but it's because he drove a truck as a daily driver to the school. Or maybe it's because his truck doesn't even have a sleeper cab. It's either that or his denim shirt and suspender combination. He's never been a part of his son's life, but now that his wife (Are they still married? How does this work? Who knows!) is sick, he's making up for lost time. It seems his marriage was a rebellion, his wife defying her parents, but that's just a guess.

Further illustrating that Stallone didn't actually drive the truck, in one scene from a stop he shifts into second gear. Maybe the gearbox is different on big rigs or this movie is just that special. Lincoln Hawk's son is an expert of pointless facts and not only still wearing his military uniform but providing lot's of "Yes sir!"

While Lincoln Hawk's (Sylvester Stallone) truck doesn't have a sleeper cab, it does have a weight machine mounted inside the cab so that he can practice his arm wrestling while driving. Lincoln Hawk really is that cool. His kid goes on a rant about reading books, but look, you can't read while driving. You can flex the arm wrestling appendage all the way down the highway.
The kid's grandfather sends guys to kidnap him. Obviously that's the logical conclusion. Lincoln Hawk saves the kid, but I was disappointed there wasn't a forearm victory bash.

Over the Top - He's a sub-par truck driver, but a world class arm wrestler.

Maybe you're thinking Lincoln Hawk is content to just drive a truck, but he's not. His ultimate plan is to buy a company. That's it. That's the grand plan. He has no specific direction whatsoever. It's exactly like this movie.

This movie is a checklist. This happens and then this, add kidnappers, have the wife die, throw it all in so that the only course of action Lincoln Hawk can take is that he must sell his beloved truck to enter the biggest arm wrestling tournament the world has ever seen. The grand prize? A truck with a sleeper cab. Are all arm wrestlers truck drivers? This movie seems to think so. What does Lincoln Hawk do? He bets all of his money on himself.

Have I mentioned the soundtrack to this movie? It feels out of place, but I love it all the same.
Completing a full circle, the kid uses the skills of driving a big rig that dear old dad taught him to steal a Toyota from his grandfather so he can see the big match. Lincoln Hawk makes it to the finals but loses. Since this is double elimination, he's not out of the running yet. He sees his son, talks to the kid's grandfather and is then truly motivated to win.

I got the impression that Lincoln Hawk's hat was a lucky hat before we got this gem of amazing '80s dialog in the mock interviews the movie does at the tournament. This is an all time classic comedy scene.

"What I do is, I take my hat and I turn it around. And it's like a switch that goes on. 

When the switch goes on I feel like another person." 

Not to spoil the movie, but he finally got that sleeper cab truck. That company he wants to buy, maybe it can be a trucking company. He's got the skills for it. Now, how have you not made a mad dash to see this movie yet? The hat is a switch!