Tuesday April 24 09:15 PM EDT
from 
By Bob Margolis - The Sporting News
When I first heard about Sylvester Stallone's
plan to make a movie about racing -- CART racing specifically
-- I was extremely skeptical. He had tried to make a racing movie
with Formula One as its background. But the politics, the expense
and a guy named Bernie Ecclestone, the boss of F1, prevented
him from doing so.
After a big, splashy press conference, those of us
in the motor sports media walked away shaking our heads saying
that this would be another of those failed CART deals, like the
Hawaiian Super Prix.
In fact, I wasn't very kind at all. After all, there
had been some exceptionally well-done movies about racing, such
as "Le Mans" with Steve McQueen and "Grand
Prix," which I still think is the best movie made about
racing. It starred a very handsome James Garner as a talented
but troubled American driver who wins the world championship.
There was no way Stallone could make a better movie.
And of course, there was that other movie about racing.
You know, the one that starred Tom Cruise, "Days
of Thunder." Looking at it now, "Days"
actually seems to be a better movie eight years later, especially
when you have the real-life Jeff Gordon/Rick Hendrick
relationship to use as a reference. To be honest though, the
best movie about NASCAR is still "Stroker Ace."
It had tons of laughs and Burt Reynolds in a chicken suit.
It captured the innocence of the sport in its early pre-Earnhardt
days.
But let's get back to Stallone's movie. It's
called "Driven" and I had the pleasure of seeing
it at an advance screening with fellow journalists, local radio
station contest winners, race team sponsors and Mario Andretti.
Andretti did all of the driving of the camera car used
in the film.
You know what? I liked the movie.
For those diehard race fans, it will be easy to spot
all those annoying mismatched scenes that Hollywood's directors
are notorious for using. Like showing a race on Belle Isle in
Detroit but using the grandstands from Chicago Motor Speedway.
And the close ups on the cars during the racing scenes weren't
real CART Champ cars. They were actually cars from the CART 101
racing school. Close, but no cigar.
I could go on and on with these kinds of references,
but the bottom line is…I liked the movie.
Stallone is the biggest star in the movie along
with Burt Reynolds (this time without a chicken suit).
The rest of the ensemble cast is relative newcomers and unknowns,
but they all rise to the occasion and deliver strong performances.
I especially enjoyed the performance by Til Schweiger,
who plays egotistical, self-centered CART champion Beau Brandenburg,
who, of course, drives the Target car, the team with four straight
CART championships from 1996 to '99. This character is very good
composite of several past and present CART drivers.
There is a decent plot. Champion Brandenburg dumps
girlfriend. Dumped girlfriend then hooks up with a young and
talented, but troubled, rookie driver named Jimmy Bly (played
by Kip Pardue, the quarterback in "Remember the
Titans"). Bly's biggest problem is an annoying, dominating
manager -- his brother, DeMille. The brother is the one character
who you'll truly hate in this movie. In the end though, he gets
his due. Watch for it.
Stallone plays a washed-up superstar driver
with an extremely ugly past, which we're told, was fueled by
his out-of-control ego. (Stallone, who wrote the movie's
screenplay, has said in recent interviews that his character,
Joe Tanto, is very autobiographical.) Burt Reynolds plays
his wheelchair-bound team owner, a la Formula One's Frank
Williams. But Reynolds' character, Carl Henry, is
not at all like Williams. Reynolds plays a cold-hearted,
win-at-any-cost megalomaniac, who actually reminds me of a couple
of real-life CART team owners.
The racing scenes are extremely well done, with close,
tight action. There are several ultra-spectacular crashes --
worse than anything I've ever seen in real life (But, then again,
this is Hollywood). There was one crash scene, near the end of
the movie, that was particularly disturbing. It showed a car
crashing into a barrier, its wheel flying off the car and into
the crowd in the grandstand. I'm quite sure the CART folks, who
were the technical advisors on this film, are not too pleased
with that, considering the same thing happened in real life at
Michigan International Speedway a few years ago, killing several
people.
There is a generous amount of computer graphics used,
some of which I didn't really care for. But some of the movie's
best action, the chase through the streets of Chicago, is all
real and very exciting.
Having worked around the CART paddock for several
years, it was easy for me to relate to many of the characters
in the movie. But even without that, I believe that anyone in
the audience will be able to relate to them.
One relationship that is particularly interesting,
but that the audience only gets a brief glimpse of, is the relationship
between Tanto and his ex-wife, played brilliantly by Gina
Gershon. Their characters' on-screen exchanges are very personal
and downright ugly, but very well done.
The ending is predictable, but I expected that it
would be.
For CART fans, there are several shots of your favorite
drivers, but none have any real quality speaking parts. Bruce
McCaw's PacWest team, with sponsors Motorola and Nextel,
are prominent in the movie, along with Target. Supposedly, McCaw's
sponsors paid a hefty price for such exposure. But it works.
I expect that this movie might be trashed by many,
especially by my fellow motor sports journalists. That would
be sad. I hope movie critics don't kill it either. It deserves
to be seen.
With its pulsing, hard-rock soundtrack, multi-channel,
expanded-stereo sound, fast editing, exciting racing action and
good looking cast, this movie could be an automatic big box office
winner for the 18-34 crowd. I hope it is.
- Craig Zablo (April 25, 2001) |
