Imagine the possibilities...

Rating: 6/10 (10 June 2001)

This movie started out as being about Formula 1 but because Sylvester Stallone did not get the free and unfettered access that he wanted/needed, he took his movie to the next best thing, CART. Apparently though Stallone kept a lot of his "original" ideas that he came up with while he was hanging around the F1 teams. For example, I don't know of another wheelchair-bound team owner other than Sir Frank Williams of F1. There are other touches here and there throughout the movie that remind me more of F1 than CART, most notably the global appeal.
While this movie is not as bad as it has been reported, there are several let-downs. The most notable flaw in my opinion is the musical score. The musical soundtrack seemed to be in the way of much of the script. I think one of the first lessons of making a movie is if the script is week, fill in the holes with some music. I was expecting Burt Reynolds to burst into song there was so much music happening.
My second biggest complaint is with the race sequences. I admit that I am approaching this movie from the view of a racing fan. The way the movie was promoted, not to mention the subject of the movie itself, suggests that I'm going to see a lot of good driving sequences. There were moments, however all too often the track sequences were so cut up as to think I was watching a rock video. There was little tension built up on the race sequences and I was left quite unimpressed, despite some high calibre driving from some of racing's top names, both CART and F1.
Overall, I was somewhat disappointed and more than once looked at my watch to see how soon I would be home. A better script, better character development and a range of emotion that went beyond the typical teen angst movie would have earned this movie a solid 8 or 9 from most viewers.
For now, I'm still waiting for a successor to John Frankenheimer's Grand Prix...