Driven

I think it's fair to let you all know that I am an avid gearhead and racing fan.

Ever since my early days when I was a toddler, I had a fascination with four-wheeled objects. Over the years, it's largely progressed, and now I can't help but love anything from a Subaru to a Ferrari.

However, one of the things that fueled and progressed this love was film and TV. The Fast and the Furious, Gone in 60 Seconds, Top Gear, Bullitt, etc. I loved them back then, and I love them now, and for me, Driven falls right into that category.

Driven is a project mostly headed by Sylvester Stallone. Stallone was interested in making a movie about Formula One (F1) racing in the late 1990s. In fact, you would see regular appearances by Stallone at most F1 races talking with famous drivers such as Michael Schumacher in pre and post-race festivities. However, most F1 teams had a pretty tight setup in keeping their cars and strategies a secret, so Stallone had to settle into making a movie about the Champ Car racing series instead.

The movie follows rookie Jimmy Bly, played by Kip Pardue, as he fights his way to becoming a household name in racing. After suffering some serious stress behind the wheel which mostly involved rival champion Beau Brandenburg, played by Til Schweiger, his team call in veteran racer Joe Tanto (Stallone) to block other racers for Bly and help him become the best. The movie progresses with a love triangle between Bly, Brandenburg, and the latter's ex-fiancee Sophia, played by Estella Warren, and then sums it all up by a race for the championship which is won by Bly in the end.

Most critics panned this movie, and I can see why. Even Stallone himself said that it didn't come out the way he wanted it. The CGI was horrible. Dialogue was okay at best, but there was a lot of lines that could have been scrapped. The actors and actresses, with the exception of Stallone and Burt Reynolds, who plays Bly's team owner, were just meh overall.

The biggest problem for me was, however, the amount of un-needed parts of the plot. There were too many characters that just appeared out of nowhere, that seemed to be getting a small part and maybe some conflict, but then just kinda either got sorted too quick or left hanging. The most aggravating for me was the conflict between Stallone's character and his ex-wife, played by Gina Gershon (ugh). When Tanto comes back, he sees his ex-wife loving all over this other racer on the team, and it seems like he doesn't care...until she talks to him and cuts him down. Alright, fair enough, this could be interesting, maybe they'll get back together in the end? But no, the shaming just goes on and on, through face-to-face talking and even a scene with Tanto's obvious new love interest (who seems to be underused...a lot). But after her new flame wrecks in one of the races, suddenly she doesn't seem as bad, and cheers Bly and Tanto on? Like, what is that?

"Wait a minute, Dak...I thought you said you liked this movie."

Ah...I do. There's no denying this movie's horrible mishaps, but there are some parts that make it interesting. The races are gripping, no doubt. When the drivers go head to head on the track and show off how determined they are, it puts you on the edge. Your heart races as fast as those cars and you just want to see who wins. There's also a pretty great scene in the middle where Tanto and Bly race prototypes through Chicago, which is pretty funny and interesting.

Overall, all I can say is that this movie isn't the greatest, but it's still entertaining. It fulfills its racing movie promise, that's for sure, and while it doesn't add up well as a drama, it isn't exactly that bad to withstand.

3/5 stars