Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Kip Pardue, Til Schweiger, Burt Reynolds, Stacy Edwards, Estella Warren, Gina Gershon, Robert Sean Leonard
Director: Renny Harlin
Producers: Renny Harlin, Elie Samaha, Sylvester Stallone
Screenplay: Sylvester Stallone
Cinematography: Mauro Fiore
Music: BT
U.S. Distributor: Warner Brothers
The screenplay for Driven is interesting for one reason only: to observe what can happen when nearly every line of dialogue and every plot development is a cliché. It's not exactly a revelation to note that original thrillers are among the rarest of cinematic breeds, so, in these kinds of films, a little freshness can go a long way. Unfortunately, that's one contest where Driven doesn't get out of the pit. Viewers can be forgiven thinking they have seen this movie before because, in form or another, they surely have.
It's almost not worthwhile reviewing Driven because the built-in audience will almost certainly enjoy it, while everyone else will be irritated, bored, or both. Unless you find car racing to be a nearly orgasmic experience, Driven offers little in the way of entertainment. The action is effete and the drama is weaker. This is basically two hours of cars zooming around a track at breakneck speeds with occasional breaks for spectacular crashes and gaggingly bad attempts at "character building". Based on that description, you can make a pretty shrewd judgment of whether you're going to appreciate what Driven has to offer.
Sylvester Stallone plays Rocky Balboa, a Philadelphia fighter... oops, wrong movie. Let me try again. Sylvester Stallone plays Joe Tanto, a race car driver who has been out of the business for a while but is itching to get back in. His chance comes when his old buddy, Carl Henry (Burt Reynolds), wants him to ride shotgun for a new, hotshot rookie, Jimmy Blye (Kip Pardue), who has a chance at winning the world championship. His chief rival for the title is the stone-faced Beau Brandenburg (Til Schweiger), a veteran whose experience makes him the odds-on favorite. For Jimmy, there are other obstacles, too. His brother, Demille (Robert Sean Leonard), is obsessed with marketing him, promising that "in five years, you'll be a brand name." Then there's Sophia (Estella Warren), the blond beauty who moves back and forth between Beau and Jimmy like a human ping pong ball. It's Joe's job to help Jimmy by teaching him the finer points of racing and running interference for him during the contests.
There are many people who go to hockey games in anticipation of seeing fights. Likewise, there are those who watch car races expecting to see crashes. Driven offers plenty of these moments, with the added guilt-free incentive that no one is really getting hurt. All of the accidents in the film are spectacular, with pieces of wreckage (sometimes in flames) flying all over the place. Unfortunately, they're also a little too obviously computer generated. And, as is inevitably the case whenever a viewer can identify a special effect as a special effect, it ruins the experience.
Stallone gets credit for the screenplay, but he's basically just re-writing Rocky, with the arena being the race track rather than the boxing ring. This is nothing new for the superstar - almost every film he has written has been essentially the same. In terms of emotional impact, nothing has matched his first effort, and Driven ranks as one of the weakest copycats. Renny Harlin's pumped-up direction doesn't help - lots of camera movement can do no more than serve as a momentary distraction.
In a way, Stallone's script is conflicted. It can't make up its mind who the hero is supposed to be: the young upstart, Jimmy, or the grizzled veteran in search of redemption, Joe. In trying to make us root for both of these guys, who are competing against one another, not only does the screenplay have to go through some amazing contortions and contrivances, but it splits our loyalty. In the end, we end up not caring about either of them. In fact, I had more sympathy for the supposed bad guy (who's not really all that bad - he just doesn't smile) than for either of the protagonists.
With one exception, the acting is pretty bad. Not since I visited the redwood forests in Northern California have I seen so much wood. It's not that Stallone can't act, but, more often than not, he takes the lazy route. His co-stars seem inspired by his lead. The exception is Gina Gershon, who plays Joe's ex-wife. She's energetic and sassy, and (of course) entirely wasted. Gershon tends to be better than most of her roles; maybe she needs to get a new agent.
Once upon a time, names like Stallone and Schwarzenegger guaranteed box office success. No longer. Watching Driven is a little like seeing an over-the-hill heavyweight champion lumbering back into the ring to get the crap beaten out of him. Like the car races it portrays, Driven becomes monotonously repetitive, zipping around and around in circles until it finally crashes to a halt.
© 2001 James Berardinelli