Review of Driven (2001) by Stuart K — 05 Aug 2013

After working together on Cliffhanger (1993), director Renny Harlin and star/writer Sylvester Stallone looked to work together again on something else. This started life as a Formula 1 film, but when the producers were unable to get the backing of any F1 team, it was rejigged to take place in the Champ Car World Series, which is smaller than F1.

It's a very silly film, it could have come from the 1980's, but it would have felt dated even then. Young rookie driver Jimmy Bly (Kip Pardue) is rising through the ranks to become the next big thing in Champ Car driving, rivaling current pro Beau Brandenburg (Til Schweiger).

But, after a series of errors on the track, team owner Carl Henry (Burt Reynolds) calls upon the services of former driver Joe Tanto (Sly), to come in and mentor Bly. However, tensions are rife because Tanto has replaced Bly's teammate Memo Moreno (Cristián de la Fuente), who is married to Tanto's ex-wife Cathy Heguy (Gina Gershon), plus Bly's brother and business manager Demille (Robert Sean Leonard), seems to be more interested in business deals than his brother's performance.

It's a very silly film, and it does drag in the middle, and even the driving sequences employ some very dodgy CGI, even Sly is wondering where it went wrong, plus Champ Car racing went bankrupt in 2008, which just about sums it up.