R E V I E W S
Driven (2001)
Starring: Sylvester
Stallone, Burt Reynolds, Kip Pardue, Til Schweiger Studio: Warner Bros. Review Posted: 4.29.01 Rating: 7/10
By Stephen.
"Not 'driven' to full potential, but fun anyway"
I expected a lot more from Driven. Moreover, I expected more from Stallone who actually wrote the script (from the story by FELLAS). Now, there are several problems with it. First, the characters. They're all too flat and for most of them you can't feel for. Second, the dialogue within the structure. Most of it sounds quite clichéd. The structure is off to a big degree, because as a whole Driven didn't feel like a movie. Driven feels like a documentary and fails to follow through with an attitude.
The problem with the characters is that they're not consistent in what they do and how they behave. There's the heated brother relationship between Jimmy Bly (Pardue), the rookie CART driver, and his brother Demille (Guy), his manager. Also, the relationship between Sophia (Warren looking very hot) and Beau Brandenburg (Schweiger), the German equivalent of Bly, breaks up minutes into the movie, comes together an hour after, and ultimately doesn't work too well. When Bly loses a race to Brandenburg after three consecutive wins, Burt Reynolds turns to John (Stallone), a veteran driver years back. Stallone's character is one, if not the most important character in this movie and it was disappointing to see how undermined and undeveloped he was. Driven wants to show off Bly, but more sympathy goes toward Brandenburg, who isn't all that of a bad guy (he just has a hard time showing off a smile).
From there, veteran must help rookie to regain strength and win the championship. Right from the start we know what the end is going to be. Driven is just too predictable and generic at times, causing it to drag in some spots. However, making the duration of it feel more worthwhile is the quick and stylish editing, soundtrack, race scenes, and the overall atmosphere of CART racing. Not everybody enjoys car racing, so, to enjoy this movie to some extent, you'd have to have some kind of admiration to racing. Now, I enjoyed all of the racing scenes along with the great soundtrack (the one that's actually in the movie, but not on the damn CD), which is the top reason why I rated it the way I did.
Driven is a little different from other Renny Harlin movies. As much as I liked Deep Blue Sea and Cliffhanger, it seems that for Harlin this was more of a fun project instead of a solid one with good acting. Fun indeed, because Harlin succeeded in just that. Driven is best enjoyed if you're into the action & soundtrack and can forget about the bad dialogue and mediocre acting for half of the time. I know that a lot more goes on in this movie that's worth of more rants and raves, but I feel like leaving the rest alone is best.
|
