Review of Days of Thunder (1990) by M Z — 07 Feb 2013

Directed by Tony Scott, this was brought to him by producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, who let him do this while Scott was waiting for Revenge (1990) to be released. It revolves around one of America's favourite national sports, NASCAR racing, and it's star came up with the story for this with Robert Towne (Chinatown (1974), as silly as the whole film is, it's very enjoyable and has a charm about it.

Cole Trickle (Tom Cruise) is a young racer with a few years of experience, who is asked by automobile tycoon Tim Daland (Randy Quaid), to compete in NASCAR. Trickle is mentored by crew chief Harry Hogge (Robert Duvall), and on the track, Trickle gets into a rivalry with driver Rowdy Burns (Michael Rooker), which ends in a high speed crash, injuring them both.

While recovering, Trickle falls for Dr. Claire Lewicki (Nicole Kidman), who oversee's his recovery. Meanwhile, Daland is now championing Russ Wheeler (Cary Elwes) as the next big NASCAR champion, and Trickle wants to get back behind the wheel to reclaim his crown.

It's a very silly film indeed, but Cruise has a natural charm, and Scott's visual style works with a sport like this. It was a troubled production, with a lot of ego clashes, but despite this, it became an instant box-office smash, and it's still good to watch today.