Days of Thunder (1990) - *** (out of ****)

Rating: Null/10 (20 June 2002)

PLOT: Cole Trickle (Tom Cruise) is a guy with a lot of talent behind the wheel of a race car, but his weakness is his burning desire to win. He is discovered by Tim Daland (Randy Quaid), and Cole is then teamed up with Harry Hogge (Robert Duvall), a car builder who wants to help Cole make it to the big time. Nicole Kidman plays the love interest as a beautiful doctor who helps Cole recover after a really bad accident on the tracks, and she also helps him in a few other areas.
MY TAKE: Days of Thunder is a fun popcorn movie that manages to stay interesting throughout. Tom Cruise, Robert Duvall, and Nicole Kidman are the major players, and they're all good in their roles. The movie has some very good racing action, although I couldn't help but feel those scenes were a little short. The movie is also a tad predictable, but, overall, it crosses the finish line with grace on what it's supposed to do: provide some solid popcorn entertainment. To say the least, think of this movie as 2001's Driven with actual substance.