‘Driven’: The Legend of Speed

Near the end of the grand championship race, former champ Joe Tanto (Sylvester Stallone) suddenly pulls into the lead, easily outpacing his younger and faster competitors. His boss and team owner Carl Henry (Burt Reynolds) pumps a fist into the air as the arena explodes into a frenzy of excitement and proudly states: “He’s back.”

Stallone is back, after a three year absence and the box office failure of his millennial foray, Get Carter. But while Driven may not be the comeback vehicle that will thrust him into the spotlight once again, it’s still one high-performance beauty that roars from start to finish with the throttle wide open. Solid acting turns and some breathtakingly edge-of-your-seat car races make getting there just as much fun as crossing the finish line.

Tanto is a former race car driver whose past failures haunt him as much as the scars he bears from the accident that ended his career, and almost his life. Now, his old boss Carl Henry wants him back, but only as a backup and blocker for the rookie sensation Jimmy Bly (Kip Pardue). But Tanto’s old nemesis Brandenberg (Til Schweiger) is still determined to win the championship. Complicating matters is Bly’s budding romance with Brandenberg’s estranged girlfriend Sophia (Estella Warren). The film spends as much time exploring the psyches and motivations of each character as it does on the actual racing, to varying degrees of success, but it is a credit to the director and scriptwriter (Stallone himself!) that the film never takes the easy way out of a situation. Brandenberg is the best example; it would have been all too easy for his character to be the stereotypical snarling villain who deserves and receives his comeuppance at film’s end. But just as Bly is more anti-hero than your garden-variety all-American hunk of beefy goodness, Brandenberg is shown to be a human, with both flaws and admirable virtues. One expects him to play the villain, and it comes as a pleasant surprise when the script allows him to display his love and heroism at key moments.

At heart, Driven is a well-intentioned attempt to use racing as a metaphor for life. There are no simple answers in this movie; the ‘hero’ doesn’t get the girl, the aged former star doesn’t win the race. And even when Bly finally achieves victory, Tanto takes the opportunity to remind him that “it doesn’t last.” No good guys or bad guys need apply; the goal is not to beat the other guy, but to beat oneself.

Unfortunately, the intentions of the film are often undermined by clunky dialogue that comes off sounding no better than the rank clichés that they are. At times it tries a little too hard to be inspirational, other times the dialogue is so absolutely meaningless that one can’t help but wonder why the director included it. To fill time? To create characterization? In a movie about movement, it is the actions that speak louder than words, and the dialogue often comes second to the acting as a means of establishing personalities. In addition, the script offers plenty of promises with no payoffs. A romantic subplot involving Tanto and a female reporter leads absolutely nowhere, and could easily have been excised without affecting the movie in the slightest. Ditto regarding a plot strand concerning Tanto’s ex-wife. And the character of Sophia, so integral to the first half of the movie, becomes nearly invisible and irrelevant for the remainder of the running time. Interestingly, these quibbles all involve the women of the movie, making a statement that racing is a man’s world, and women are mere functionaries, objects and ornaments to be lusted and sought after, but never truly needed. The numerous shots of buxom race car girls do nothing to dispel the stench of chauvinism.

But one doesn’t come to a film called Driven for a statement on gender issues. It’s the racing that counts, and director Renny Harlin takes full advantage of cinematic technology and inventive camera work to conjure races that leave one as breathless as the drivers in the cars. Slow-motion effects are merged with real-time movement to surreal, stunning image. Harlin’s constantly surprising camera work sometimes places the audience in the driver’s seat, allowing one to experience firsthand the incredible rush of speed and fury in each race. The CGI and computer-enhanced car crashes that occur on the track are exciting at first, though the novelty soon wears off as they are overused, and the consequences of high-speed collisions are completely ignored. Despite spectacular automobile acrobatics that should result in maiming or death, drivers in Driven just walk away unscathed. This bit of irresponsible filmmaking saps the dramatic tension from the accidents, rendering them little more than showcases for Harlin’s dramatic visions and the scope of the technology available to him. By far the most thrilling race takes place not on the race track, but on the busy streets of a downtown metropolis, when Bly and Tanto make off with high-performance race cars. The exhilaration of speed is upped another level by the addition of all manner of fatal obstacles including trailers, other cars and pedestrians. Sewer covers fly and, in a nod to Marilyn Monroe’s (in)famous moment, the wind left in the wake of the race cars causes a woman’s skirt to flutter upwards.

As for the acting, Stallone is Stallone; no matter what the role, his very presence carries all the emotional and dramatic weight of his previous roles, baggage that is impossible to set aside. Fortunately, he is used just right in this movie. Rather than denying his age and gunning for a younger role, he is perfectly cast as a has-been looking for a shot at recapturing the glory days. Stallone in his maturity shines even brighter than he did in his prime. His famous mug still as unrepentantly stoic as ever, he cuts through the film like a whirlwind of tense muscles and charismatic flair. One of the few leading actors left who isn’t a pretty boy, he wears confident masculinity like a cologne; it pervades every scene he acts in. Film legend Reynolds is suitably gruff as the owner with a will of steel and a heart of gold. Turning in a memorable and credible performance, he shows us exactly why he became a star in the first place. German superstar Schweiger does what he can with an underwritten character, shining in his all-too-brief moments onscreen. At first, he is portrayed as the stereotypical foreign enemy villain, loaded with menace and poison. But soon his true character is revealed, that of a dedicated and fearless man who can own up to his mistakes and attempt to correct them.

Alas, the rookies fare less well, standing as they do in the shadow of their vastly more experienced co-stars. Pardue’s name is more interesting than his screen persona; despite some shamelessly contrived moments meant to mature his character, he comes off as a whiny, spoiled brat whose success on the track owes more to the scriptwriter’s pen than any personal talent. His every appearance drains energy from the picture. A relentlessly self-pitying and selfish child, his Bly garners little sympathy; one gets the feeling the audience roots for him only out of a sense of obligation. Warren is marginally better in a potentially interesting role that dwindles to almost nothing by the end of the film. Cristian de la Fuente, Gina Gershon, Stacy Edwards and Robert Sean Leonard are given thankless roles that are nothing but foils for the main characters.

So buckle up and strap yourself in for a thrilling cinematic ride. From the obligatory love story to tales of redemption, sacrifice and victory, Driven is a powerful depiction of the human race.

Driven

directed by Renny Harlin

starring Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds, Estella Warren

Warner Bros.