Days of Thunder has all the typical ingredients of every other Bruckheimer production ever made, except that it actually works in this case.

Rating: 8/10 (5 May 2002)

It's very easy to be put off by Bruckheimer productions (like Armageddon, Gone In 60 Seconds, Pearl Harbor, Coyote freakin Ugly, etc.), and Days of Thunder undeniably fits comfortably among them, but this is inarguably one of the better of the films that have come from the juggernaut producer. Bruckheimer is obviously more interested in making astronomical amounts of money than he is in inserting any type of artistic merit into the films that he produces, which is generally what causes them to come out as complete garbage (see all of the movies listed above). In the case of Days of Thunder, however, we have a film that displays all of the characteristics of the average Bruckheimer production, but that manages to avoid becoming yet another emotionally manipulative and generally weak film outside of the obviously massive financial purging that went into every element of the film except the story, the script, and the artistic input.
Tom Cruise, a Bruckheimer veteran, plays the part of Cole Trickle, a smart-ass rookie who decides that he wants to race for Nascar despite massive ignorance about the functional workings of the cars themselves. We get a brief look into his past in an emotion-tinged scene with his mentor, Harry (Robert Duvall), in which he gives us a sketch of his reasons for wanting to race Nascar, leaving the details at a minimum because they are not very important to the rest of the movie. The important thing here is the question of whether Cole can prove himself on the racetrack, and he gets his opportunity several times with varying degrees of success and failure.
Almost identical on a structural level to it's predecessor, Top Gun, Days of Thunder manages to avoid becoming redundant as a result of the inevitable comparisons to that film, and instead succeeds in much the same way that Top Gun did. Again, we are given a fast paced story that involves an exciting occupation that most people know little about (this time Nascar racing instead of fighter piloting), with all of the same stock characters that seem to succeed in the film even though logic would seem to prevent this, given the lack of imagination involved in their conception and their behaviors.
Much of the extensive and generally appreciated comic relief in the film involves things that could never be done in real life without massive consequences, which renders it amusing but impossible to take seriously. Maybe the reason that the movie was so enjoyable was the very fact that the comic relief alone removed any sense that the film is meant to be taken seriously. On public roads, Cole and Rowdy (Michael Rooker) engage in a high speed race in rental cars, Cole backs into an impatient tailgater and then chases him at high speeds through the streets, and on the racetrack Cole has his flattened tires changed by his pit crew after the checkered flag has waved, and then plows full speed into the race victor, who also happens to be the guy who caused Cole's flat tires and his subsequent removal from the race. Was nobody at Nascar watching any of this?
Sure, these were all a ton of fun to watch, but they all occurred entirely without consequences of any kind. The guy that he backed into and then chased through the streets continued on his way without seeming to care as much about the damage done to his car as he is about getting on with whatever business made it was that made him in such a hurry in the first place. And, obviously, as was extensively the case with Top Gun, Cole can't be expected to have any respect for helmet laws. Hey kids, Tom Cruise never wears helmets in his movies when he's on motorcycles (and this isn't even including the Missions: Impossible), so maybe we shouldn't either? Here's a good example of how weak filmmaking can try to be cool in ways that set a brilliant example for all of its young viewers.
Nicole Kidman plays the role of Cole's and Rowdy's neurologist with deadly seriousness, emphasizing both her own role as the tamer of the wild Cole and Cruise's role as the out of control rookie seeking desperately to find something to control. He at first finds speed in a Nascar as that thing to control, but then turns his attention gradually to his doctor, ultimately having to come to the decision of which he wants more. Obviously, anyone who has ever seen a movie knows exactly what he's going to choose, but there is an interesting discrepancy here, because while we can pretend that there is some suspense in his decision, given that neither thing has been in his life for very long (and, therefore, we can try to wonder which has become more important to him), there is also the absence of suspense for that same reason.
Robert Duvall is just as good as always in his role as the retired mechanic behind the scenes at the races (brought back from his leaisurely retirement by the age-old `one more job' routine), and even Randy Quaid (who may never overcome his brilliant performance as Cousin Eddie in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation) manages to come across as convincingly serious at times. Besides that, he was the only person throughout the entire movie that offered up some consequences to some of Cole's reckless behaviors (screaming out, after Cole's vengeful crash into Russ Wheeler's car after that race, that the entire team was fired Â– although it should be noted that that clearing of his list of employees was never enforced or even mentioned again).
Days of Thunder is a fast action film that delivers what it promises, while at the same time retaining the generally unimpressive characteristics of your typical Jerry Bruckheimer film. It takes a sport that is hideously boring (unless you're involved in it or the cars are crashing into each other) and makes it interesting, despite being at the expense of that sport's connection with reality. While it's definitely not a realist film, Days of Thunder is inarguably one of the best of the action films to come from the Bruckheimer production team.