Driven (2001)
Directed by Renny Harlin
Talented rookie race-car driver Jimmy Bly has started losing his focus and begins to slip in the race rankings. It's no wonder, with the immense pressure being shoveled on him by his overly ambitious promoter brother as well as Bly's romance with his arch rival's girlfriend Sophia. With much riding on Bly, car owner Carl Henry brings former racing star Joe Tanto on board to help Bly. To drive Bly back to the top of the rankings, Tanto must first deal with the emotional scars left over from a tragic racing accident which nearly took his life.
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What critics compared Driven to
While there isn't really a Formula One racing film to compare to Ron Howard 's " Rush " (unless the Sylvester Stallone starring " Driven " from 2001 counts), the Nascar themed " Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby " came to mind with Jackie Chan 's " Thunderbolt " coming in a close second.
It's much better than Tom Cruise's Days of Thunder and Sylvester Stallone's Driven.
If those things are what you want, seek out 2008's dazzling, candy-coated, sorely underappreciated " Speed Racer " or even 2001's Sylvester Stallone ensemble action-drama, " Driven ," instead.
…a movie about an aging driver made a comeback for the last chance of glory is nothing new, which immediately reminds me of the Stallone-starred Driven back in 2001…
But then in 2001 I hit bottom with Driven.
In any case, it's no wonder this movie did poorly at the box office, despite its high-profile cast--Val Kilmer, Christian Slater, LL Cool J--and its veteran action director, Renny Harlin ("Nightmare on Elm Street 4," "Die Hard 2," "Cliffhanger," "Cutthroat Island," "Deep Blue Sea," "Driven," "Exorcist: The Beginning").
Say what you will about Renny Harlin’s taste in movies, but the man is a world-class filmmaker — considering the schlock he normally chooses to direct, it is at least somewhat impressive that up until now, I have never disliked a Renny Harlin film (note: I have not seen Driven).
Some of the ensuing twists are genuinely surprising, primarily due to the willingness of the audacious B-action maven Harlin ("Driven") to go so quickly and completely over the top with them.