Driven ** (2001, Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds, Kip Pardue, Til Schweiger) – Classic Movie Review 8876

Sylvester Stallone is in low gear for director Renny Harlin’s pounding 2001 motor-race movie Driven, in which a thumping rock score battles the roar of Indy car engines as drivers try to ram each other into the wall.

Crusty old team boss Carl Henry (Burt Reynolds) calls in former racing star Joe Tanto (Stallone) to advise hunky young rookie all-American hot rod Jimmy Bly (Kip Pardue), who could lose the championship to smug foreign top driver Beau Brandenburg (Til Schweiger).

The movie runs like an extended pop video, all flash, bang, wallop, and little in the way of subtlety, good performances or convincing plotting to admire.

Nevertheless, it is tolerable for a brain-in-neutral night out or in, and, with Sly behind the wheel, at least you want to like it. And there is one brilliant sequence when a car plunges into a track-side pool and the star racers stop in mid-race to save their buddy.

Also in the cast are Stacy Edwards, Gina Gershon, Estella Warren, Cristián de la Fuente, Brent Briscoe and Robert Sean Leonard.

Cert PG for some strong language and some intense crash sequences.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8876

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