Dumb, predictable and extremely fun

Rating: 9/10 (28 July 2001)

When making a film which focuses on a specific hobby/sport (whether it be computers, skydiving or - indeed - racing) it's always hard to come up with ways that makes the situations easy to understand and exciting to the "average viewer" while at the same time trying to be realistic enough to satisfy the people who know and follow the hobby/sport. Actually it's not even hard, it seems to be impossible. Considering that, Driven did a helluva job keeping my eyes glued to the screen even though I hate F1/Cart etc. I guess that means that there are numerous factual errors and the fans of Cart-racing will pick this film apart. So be it, I don't care.
Anyway, if you go and see this movie expecting a good plot, good acting and good dialogue, you obviously aren't very bright when it comes to movies and deserve what you're going to get. Of course, there are attempts to make the characters deep and make the audience care about whether they win or not but since there are no clear good and bad guys here, those attempts are largely unnecessary. Instead, you get racing scenes which are filmed so well that they literally take your breath away. The soundtrack is also extremely good with excellent score and songs almost always on the background.
The movie has excellent production values and with it's fast cutting it's style resembles something produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Nothing wrong with that. I love the frenetic pace, the way the camera is always moving and the way no shot lasts longer than two seconds. Some others don't so if you want to see something subtle, skip this. My favorite scene was a chase through the streets of Chicago (though filmed in Toronto) where the young rookie guided by Stallone steals a prototype race car and heads to the streets with Stallone chasing him. The atmosphere in this scene set during night was out of this world and the sheer irresponsibility of the act was extremely refreshing in this day and age when everything is so politically correct (and at least in Finland speeding seems to be the most serious crime anyone can ever commit) that it makes me sick. There are also numerous good-looking girls throughout the film. You want to see strong female characters? Well you ain't gonna find them here. You want to see some sexy babes showing cleavage? You came to the right place.
Now, I might not be the most objective guy around when it comes to this film. I'm from Finland so I'll probably like anything that Renny Harlin makes. Also, I like Stallone and I like fast cars (although, as I said, I'm not a fan of racing). Still, after the negative hype this movie received in the US, it came as a very positive surprise to me. It's not a total success but it's a fast and fun film if you don't take it too seriously. Fans of the sport might be disappointed but if you want to see fast cars, this just might be the ticket even if you don't like to watch racing on TV. I liked the film and I'll give it an 8. Just don't watch it without a good-quality sound system and a big screen - this is audio-visual entertainment all the way.