Watched this last night and sadly I thought it was a pretty forgettable flick. The trailer made it look a lot more entertaining than it really is which is a shame because I could see the potential. Weirdly, enough the acting isn't that bad and its somewhat competently made, but I think what took the fun out of it for me the most is that it takes itself way too seriously. Travolta and Madsen should have really been let off the leash more and a part of me wishes the whole movie was just about their rivalry, because I didn't give a shit about the stuff with the selfish brat of a son wanting to be a winner or the boring family drama that completely bogged this movie down IMO. Also, that flashback with the wife getting killed by a CGI pole was fucking hilarious lol.

C

Not a good film, but didn't prepare myself for that either. It's pretty bad at times actually, and the middle section, which apparently stretches over a whole racing season drags the film down. We just see glimpses of some events and it doesn't carry much importance. But the start is decent, I like the southern setting and the ending, although it has maybe the worst montage I've ever seen also, is nice enough in "making the circle round". Travolta is his solid self, he really is better than this, though at this same time, I'm used to seeing him in stuff like this now and there's something comforting about it too. I liked Madsen, Twain, Travolta's friend and his son's wife in this too, and his son, I thought he was pretty bad from the start but he had grown on me in the last scene. It's not a very exciting film in the end really, especially for what it perhaps could have been involving racing competition, but I was a bit charmed by it.

C-

Hmm, what an oddly composed film. Its pace is best described as a plod. I couldn't get to grips with it, but the film is by no means as bad as Speed Kills. It's an improvement on that, so I look upon this film as a [minor] success for Travolta. He traded speed boats for stock cars, and this suits his vibe better. But the film is badly directed. It is very clear to see. Strange musical cues and accompaniment, editing, shot transitions, etc. etc., just nothing good. And the cars never seemed to be moving fast. Just coasting. That kind of annoyed me.

Sometimes the film doesn't even make sense. There is one part where Michael Madsen, Travolta, and Travolta's son (Cam) are all in a race championship. But the next race, Madsen doesn't race, then he will the next time. It's confusing what the setup is. Is this normal in stock car racing? Maybe it is. But for an outsider like me I was turned off by the lack of 'setting the scene'. There is also no on-going ranking or leaderboard to keep us involved in the championship, which is a real stupid move not to include. And the film tries to make Madsen out to be the villain when there's no real reason for it whatsoever. They're playing too much on his persona as not a very nice guy (Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, etc.) but he actually does nothing wrong in this film from what I could see. So Cam's eventual triumph loses all impact.

The final race is actually hilarious. There are 50 laps, of which 48 of them are so pathetically glossed over (with awful transitions and overlaid text; "Lap 41/50", and so on) to get to the end, and so on the 48th lap Cam gets knocked out by Madsen and stalls his car. The whole pack (the whole anonymous ghost car pack - seriously, are these cars on autodrive or something?) overtake him, so he's in last place. Just two laps to go. He fights his way back to win the race. If his car and ability were that good, he'd have won the race earlier while the rest of the pack were on the 30th lap. It's ludicrous.

The actors are in interesting source for critique here. First you have Travolta. He's the retired champion that Madsen (his race rival) could never beat. He honestly has the most energy in the film. Even more than his son. Then there's Michael Madsen, supposedly the enemy (though he's just trying to win like everyone else, and he seems like a fair dude), who I found uncomfortable to watch. He's an odd shape these days, but he cannot stop moving in a way that suggests he has breathing difficulties. I'm surprised he didn't do a Tommy Cooper and collapse mid-shoot. Then there's 53-year old Shania Twain, looking 33 at most. Stunning. She outshines 22-year old Rosabell Laurenti Sellers, and it's not even close.

Anyway, those are my immediate thoughts without any care given to them. Just wanted to get it down. I am looking forward to Travolta's next project, The Poison Rose by George Gallo, the writer of one of my favourite films, Midnight Run. It has a great cast too. Travolta, Brendan Fraser, Famke Janssen, Morgan Freeman, Peter Stormare, and Robert Patrick.