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Driven (2001)
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Genre: |
Action/Drama |
Director: |
Renny Harlin
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Rating: |
PG-13 |
Running Time: |
117 Minutes |
Release Date: |
April 27, 2001 |
Official Website: |
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Movie Trailer: |
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Discuss and vote: |
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Cast: |
Sylvester Stallone
Kip Pardue
Til Schweiger
Burt Reynolds
Stacy Edwards
Estella Warren
Gina Gershon
Robert Sean Leonard
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Pickup Line: Crash And Burn!
Quickie: A retired race car driver comes out of retirement to mentor a disillusioned racing rookie. Now that's what you call expensive therapy.
The Long Review:
Once in a while, a movie comes along that you just have to see despite the horrid reviews you've read about it. "Driven" is one such movie. Starring and written by Sylvester Stallone (That's your first red flag right there!!), this Sly comeback tells the simplistic story of Jimmy Bly (Kip Pardue), an up and coming race car rookie, who, upon experiencing the sour aftertaste of fame and fortune, becomes disillusioned…and thus, a loser on the racetrack. His bastard of a sponsor, Carl Henry (Burt Reynolds), then gets his ex-driver, Joe Tanto (Sylvester Stallone) to come out of retirement to re-inspire the kid (translation: to say one cliché after another to the kid who says one cliché after another back). What follows is a movie infected with fast cars, unrealistic events, inconsistencies, bad dialogue, and a laughable plot. Hmmm…should we stop right here? Perhaps we've sufficiently stated our point. Oh, what the heck. We sat through the film. We might as well go all the way and complete the review.
Two minutes into the movie, you already get proof that Sly Stallone of "Rocky" fame wrote the screenplay. Can we say mucho cheeso dialogue? You won't believe that you're actually hearing what you're hearing. The best way to describe the dialogue is a bad mix between the script of "Days Of Our Lives" and the yuckiest, corniest greeting inside a Hallmark card. Get the point? We should give the actors who had to say these terrible lines much credit for being able to keep a straight face during filming.
And so you keep watching and you become incredulous of the amount of unrealistic events presented to you. One of the messages that this film gives? Race car drivers are invincible. Yup. They're immortal. Move aside, Xena…The Molson Indy is coming to a dimension near you! Okay, One completely unrealistic event is forgivable, two is tolerable, three is laughable. But more than that is an insult to one's intelligence already. And coming out of "Driven," you'll feel insulted. And perhaps you'll get over it and say to yourself, "One day, I'll be able to laugh about this."
And then there are the inconsistencies. We suggest that you just take whatever you see on the screen as face value. Don't think about any of it. Or else, you'll be just like us, whispering to each other, "Huh?! I don't understand. If that happened, then how come this didn't happen…blah-blah-blah?" Obviously, the writers didn't pay much attention to the oh-so-important little details that stake the difference between a good movie and a bad one. Why should you ?!
And then there's the plot. Or should we say the lack thereof? It's so simplistic, you won't even know it's there. It's amusing in its predictability. You've heard of soft, easy listening, right? "Driven" is soft, easy thinking!
In its defense, "Driven" is quite noble in its intentions. Sly Stallone needed a major comeback. And since no casting director in his or her right mind would offer him a script, he wrote himself one. And he didn't sop there. Since no director in his or her right mind would offer him a part, he gave himself one, too. Bravo! "Driven" is Stallone's vehicle towards re-claiming box-office integrity. See? Noble.
"Driven" also set out to entertain. And that's what it does. You may be entertained by its ridiculousness or by the pizzazz it serves i.e. a lot of vroom-vroom action, a loud soundtrack, and A LOT of aerial shots…bottom line is, you're entertained. "I really liked the action…the fast cars, the jaw-dropping car crash scenes…I wasn't too much into the aerial shots, though. I hate flying. But yes, I found this movie quite entertaining, holes, and cheesy dialogue and all." - Guru Mumu Well, there's at least one person who liked the pizzazz!
This movie boasts of another redeeming quality: Estella Warren. Aside from cars going at 250 miles per hour, she's your other source of adrenaline. She's hot as hell and she can actually act. "I don't think she's all that pretty but she can act, alright…I'll give her that." - Guru Mumu
Lastly, those of you who lack knowledge in the sport of race car driving may appreciate the lessons you learn from this movie: "I had no clue how this whole racing shebang went down. Thanks to 'Driven,' I now understand like, all about like, two drivers from the same team tag-teaming and like, helping each other win. It's like having a wingman! Only like, without the Iceman!" -- anonymous perky girl overheard while coming out of the theatre.
There you have it, folks. "Days Of Thunder" "Driven" ain't. Some critics have labeled it "Drivel." Guru Dudu described it as "crap." Guru Mumu came to its defense. And surprisingly, Roger Ebert didn't slam it…that much. But he did use sarcasm to drive home his point about the movie's lacking plot: "The movie is so filled with action that dramatic conflict would be more than we could handle, so all of the characters are nice." Hehehe. If you're in search of an actual plot and life-changing dialogue, you better skip this movie. But if you're in the mood to see fast cars race, fast cars crash, and fast girls expose themselves, you just may find "Driven" to your liking.
In Two Minutes:
Did you know?
- Canadian Estella Warren, a lot of people have found, is the only good thing about this movie. Check out the stats on this sexy ex-national synchronized swimming champion on http://www.moviegurus.com/celebrities/estella_warren/estella_warren.php.
- Kip Pardue may not achieve real-deal fame from making this highly-criticized movie but he came home with the trophy, anyway: He's dating Estella Warren.
- This movie was supposed to mark Sly Stallone's ultimate comeback. Nice try, Sly!
- Renny Harlin also directed "Die Hard 2: Die Harder". What happened, man?! Did you fall off the wagon??
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