"Smokey and the Bandit" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" Are the Same Movie

June 11, 1986: Ferris Bueller's Day Off premieres. It is one of the most popular movies of my generation.

July 29, 1977: Smokey and the Bandit premieres. It is also one of the most popular movies of my generation.

Hear me out: Smokey and the Bandit and Ferris Bueller's Day Off are the same movie. Yes, I know, one takes place in the rural, working-class South, and the other in the wealthy suburbs north of Chicago. But the similarities are uncanny:

* Bo "Bandit" Darvill (played by Burt Reynolds) and Ferris Bueller (played by Matthew Broderick): When we meet the protagonist, he is already established as a hero within his own community, and we don't know how he got that way, and we don't need to know.

* Likeable or not, the hero is a criminal: The Bandit is bootlegging, and causing all kinds of mayhem on the road; Ferris steals a car and hijacks a parade.

* Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Jerry Reed) and Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck): The protagonist has a best friend that he needs to help him get around. (Big difference: Snowman is happy to be involved, while Cam, claiming sickness, is not.)

* Carrie, a.k.a. "Frog" (Sally Field), who was supposed to marry Buford T. Justice Jr.; and Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara), who was supposed to be in school: The hero takes the leading lady away from where she's "supposed to be." (Big difference: Sloane already knows Ferris, and has an idea of what she's getting herself into; going into the film, Carrie has never heard of the Bandit, and has no idea of what she's getting herself into.)

* New (1977) Pontiac Trans Am, classic (1961) Ferrari: The hero drives a cool car that, at the start of the movie, was not his. The Ferrari never is Ferris' car: It belongs to Cameron's father. At least the Bandit's possession of the Trans Am is legit, having gotten money for it from "Big Enos" Burdette (Pat McCormick).

* Get to the fairgrounds outside Atlanta with the semi-tractor-trailer full of Coors beer by 4:00 PM the next day, get back to his house in Shermer, Illinois before 6:00 PM the same day: Each hero is on a very strict time limit.

* CB (Citizens Band) Radios, desktop computers: Each hero uses the hot new technology to help him do what he's gotta do.

* Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason) and assistant principal Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones): The authority figure chasing the hero is just doing his job, but he does it badly, and is so gung-ho about it that he makes an ass of himself.

* The hero needs a lot of luck to pull off his victory, and gets it, including from women. (Big difference: People are happy to help the Bandit evade the Sheriff, making his luck for him; while Ferris mainly succeeds through sheer dumb luck, including the incredibly unlikely idea that, Jennifer Grey being 25 in real life or not, Rooney would believe that Jeanie, Ferris' younger sister, is actually his mother.)

* Finally, despite their very different backgrounds, the protagonists would probably like each other: The Bandit does what he does "For the money, for the glory, and for the fun. Mostly for the money." Ferris doesn't do it for the money, but would certainly agree with the glory and the fun. Ferris says, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." The Bandit would absolutely agree.