Above average racing movie

Rating: 7/10 (5 January 2002)

There haven't been too many car racing movies that were good. Burt Reynold's 'Stroker Ace' was a good ol' boy comedy that pleased the fans that it was aiming for. Tom Cruise's 'Days Of Thunder' was just so-so. Sly Stallone's 'Driven' was much much better than the two combined. Sly also wrote the screenplay to the movie, which helped tremendously. The plot was decent, but the casting was just so-so. Sly was excellent as the retired car driver brought back into action to mentor a young rookie driver who's losing his edge midway through the season. Reynolds appears here also, this time as the car owner who employs Sly. Burt portrays his stearn character very well. You don't know if you like him or hate him in the movie. The rest of the cast was ok...could have been better, but when you have great racing scenes to make up for it, all is well. Critics & fans blasted this movie for all the wrong reasons. They saw it & expected 'The Deer Hunter'. The movie was made for racing & Stallone fans. Sly's screenplay made me think of Rocky...a retired has-been driver brought back for another chance. His acting & writing were great in the movie. Sly gets criticized often for his acting & roles, but does he make the great action movies to win oscars...? No, he does them for his fans. That's why the fans love him so much. Great work Sly, & I can't wait to see 'Avenging Angelo' in 2002.