Lotus666
06-08-09, 10:28 PM
A Nick Zbu contribution from 2004...
The cliche is the same: someone exceeds in a sport and gathers a following of people who both want this person to win and also live through him/her as a symbol of what can be done. And in these movies, this feeling is passed onto an audience which may or may not have the same emotional attachment. At the very least here, the objective is to give us a typical Hollywood feel-good moment that deadens the sense of failure that this ideal assumes we all have.
My point? None, really, except according to this flick Dale Earnhardt, Sr--NASCAR extraordinaire and latter-day racing Hick Jesus--was a God to all men despite the fact his death was a ironic fluke considering he 1) crashed more times than Wile E. Coyote and 2) the device that could have saved his life on that day he outright refused. Sad? Yup. But worthy of making this racer into a goddamn 'hero' simply because he drove a shell of a Ford into a wall at the end of a ****ing race? I'm sorry, but if we're that aching for heroes in this new America, we might as well just label Larry the Cable Guy our national spokesperson and get back to the growing Cultural Wars.
Now am I being a jerk because I'm sick to death of racing? Yeah, but it doesn't help that this film looks like it was made on Digital Video, is full of 'come on, cry, damn it!' film moments such as sad music, longful glances, tons of foreshadowing--you hear 'neck brace' waaaay too often that it borders on parody--and the fact that this humdinger of a loser (and future #1 DVD at your local Wal-Mart) is directed by Russell Muhcahy.
Remember Highlander 2: The Quickening? Then you are familiar with this hack's work. And you'll only be mildly prepared for the damage of....this salute to doing whatever the **** you wanna do without taking into consideration that piece of ass you conned into marrying your dumb ass.
RATING: The only way this movie could get deliciously better is if you threw it in at a Wal-Mart and watched the people break into tears, fall on their knees, and scream to the florescent lights 'why, God, why Earnhardt? WHY NOT ME???'
GOOD RATING: 1/2 out of 5 stars.
CHEESE RATING: 5 out of 5 restraining orders....I WUV YOU, BABY!!
;)
The cliche is the same: someone exceeds in a sport and gathers a following of people who both want this person to win and also live through him/her as a symbol of what can be done. And in these movies, this feeling is passed onto an audience which may or may not have the same emotional attachment. At the very least here, the objective is to give us a typical Hollywood feel-good moment that deadens the sense of failure that this ideal assumes we all have.
My point? None, really, except according to this flick Dale Earnhardt, Sr--NASCAR extraordinaire and latter-day racing Hick Jesus--was a God to all men despite the fact his death was a ironic fluke considering he 1) crashed more times than Wile E. Coyote and 2) the device that could have saved his life on that day he outright refused. Sad? Yup. But worthy of making this racer into a goddamn 'hero' simply because he drove a shell of a Ford into a wall at the end of a ****ing race? I'm sorry, but if we're that aching for heroes in this new America, we might as well just label Larry the Cable Guy our national spokesperson and get back to the growing Cultural Wars.
Now am I being a jerk because I'm sick to death of racing? Yeah, but it doesn't help that this film looks like it was made on Digital Video, is full of 'come on, cry, damn it!' film moments such as sad music, longful glances, tons of foreshadowing--you hear 'neck brace' waaaay too often that it borders on parody--and the fact that this humdinger of a loser (and future #1 DVD at your local Wal-Mart) is directed by Russell Muhcahy.
Remember Highlander 2: The Quickening? Then you are familiar with this hack's work. And you'll only be mildly prepared for the damage of....this salute to doing whatever the **** you wanna do without taking into consideration that piece of ass you conned into marrying your dumb ass.
RATING: The only way this movie could get deliciously better is if you threw it in at a Wal-Mart and watched the people break into tears, fall on their knees, and scream to the florescent lights 'why, God, why Earnhardt? WHY NOT ME???'
GOOD RATING: 1/2 out of 5 stars.
CHEESE RATING: 5 out of 5 restraining orders....I WUV YOU, BABY!!
;)