Happy Birthday, Burt Reynolds! A guide to some of his best movies.

1. “Deliverance”
Reynolds gives a strong, no-nonsense performance as the macho outdoorsman Lewis in John Boorman’s tense, genuinely frightening exercise in suspense, in which four men stumble into far more than they bargained for during a weekend of rafting on the Cahulawassee River. While it’s best remembered today as the movie where Ned Beatty is ordered to “Squeal like a pig,” “Deliverance” features a number of superb performances from a ... more 

1. “Deliverance”
Reynolds gives a strong, no-nonsense performance as the macho outdoorsman Lewis in John Boorman’s tense, genuinely frightening exercise in suspense, in which four men stumble into far more than they bargained for during a weekend of rafting on the Cahulawassee River. While it’s best remembered today as the movie where Ned Beatty is ordered to “Squeal like a pig,” “Deliverance” features a number of superb performances from a top-notch cast, and Reynolds, known for often keeping his tongue in cheek, commands the screen in a turn that never kids the deadly serious material. less