Days of Thunder

First of all this movie has Tom Cruise in it, which to be honest is the reason that I hesitated for so long to see it. Secondly It's about NASCAR for Christ's sake! The problem is, I did enjoy it. I believe its for the reasons that I mentioned that I actually did enjoy it. An escapist sort of entertainment that puts you in a place that you would really never even consider going. I was forced to rent this recently by a friend and after sitting about 15 minutes in to it I just let go and let the colors and sounds wash over me. This movie is the visual equivalent of a music video with dialog. Every scene is short and to the point, and if its forward momentum you are looking for in your movies then you've come to the right place. The entire duration of the movies length I kept thinking that I wish there were more movies made that took you to another world the way this one does. Tony Scott you've done it again sir, Congratulations!

The producers, director and star of Top Gun get together again for this above average racing drama. Its nowhere near as good as Top Gun of course but its no disaster. Tom Cruise is good as the daftly named racing driver Cole Trickle and the ever reliable Robert Duvall offers classy support. Michael Rooker is excellent as Toms rival and Randy Quaid shows a more serious side to those who only know him from the Vacation movies. Surprisingly the usually good Nicole Kidman is rather bland as the love interest although to be fair she's not given a heck of a lot to work with. The music is of course all important in a movie like this and it has a pretty good soundtrack including Maria McKee's Number One hit Show Me Heaven, but again Top Gun had a much better soundtrack with Hans Zimmmer no match for Harold Faltermeyer. Tony Scott directs with his usual style, if you have seen Top Gun or Beverly Hills Cop 2 you'll no what to expect, very flashy and VERY LOUD. With a slightly less predictable story this could have been a lot better but as it is its a pretty enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours.

Boy, Tom Cruise had that obnoxious character down pat for quite some time, didn't he? Here is yet another film in which he plays that type of annoying character you want to slap in the face (or something else). Yeah, if you liked Top Gun and his other "pretty-boy" films of this period - and some were pretty good, actually - you might like this. In fact, this film might be more popular now since NASCAR is televised so much more these days. This movie may get a new audience. Frankly, I could care less about auto racing, back then and now, but I don't hate it, I love most other sports and I like a good movie. This was only fair in all categories. Not bad; not good.

Racing fans tell me there wasn't a lot of realism with this and actual NASCAR events - mainly involving sponsorship - back then, but I was looking an entertaining film....and I like Robert Duvall as actor and don't mind gazing at Nicole Kidman (who can also act.) Michael Rooker and Randy Quaid usually portray interesting people, too.

It's basically a story about a guy who wants to prove himself on the race track, and I have no problem with that. It's not a memorable but it's not a waste of time either. You should be reasonably entertained.

Regardless of your opinion of NASCAR racing, this is an incredibly fun movie for guys.

Is it creative? No. It's pretty obvious that it's the same thing as Top Gun. The only difference is maturity. Over the years, Tom Cruise had developed into a fine actor, and when coupled with Robert Duvall (in a spectacular performance) and a surprising Randy Quaid, Days of Thunder becomes a film which gets pretty much any guy involved in it.

I personally hate NASCAR, but still I find this film absolutely riveting, and every time I watch it, I suddenly have a desire to go race my car down the highway. In fact, the biggest argument against this movie is that it does get to the testosterone.

The music for Days of Thunder sets it up perfectly. Hans Zimmer does an effective job with his second Cruise film in two years (Rain Man was the other), and The Spencer Davis Group's Gimme Some Lovin' makes some plotless racing scenes worth watching.

The script, penned by Bob Towne, is far more clever than the average action movie and actually creates some serious character depth for Cole and Rowdy, although Cary Elwes' character seems excessively evil.

But, all in all, this is an action movie that works for Cruise fans, even if they don't like action movies. 8.5 out of 10 (On a pure enjoyment basis).

Eager for a winning formula, team owner Tim Daland puts together the inexperienced but naturally talented Cole Trickle and the retired but skilled mechanic Harry Hogge to hopefully bounce off each other to create a winning combination. After the expected bumps and friction between the two, they seem to blend well and start winning races. However, a major accident between Cole and his main rival, Rowdy Burns, puts them both in the hospital under the care of the professional and leggy Dr Lewicki. But will Cole be able to overcome the physical and mental scars that he got.

The comedian Rich Hall did a great routine once where he summed up the films of Tom Cruise by basically saying that each of them involves him being great at his job (pilot, bartender, driver) before suffering a crisis of confidence but meeting a beautiful lady who helps him over it in time to come good – hilarious in the telling because he was right and, true to form, Days of Thunder sets its stall out in the same way. That the plot is formulaic (father/son stuff, macho posturing, love interest, final big race etc) and it is a bit tiring at times because it is nothing new and it produces large sags during the film. The father/son stuff is OK if hackneyed but the romance is so sudden and fake that it left me cool and never engaged once. The racing stuff is fun, noisy and fast which I suppose is what most of its audience want; but this is still not a great action movie but kudos to Scott for managing to make a load of cars going round a circular track appear exciting.

The cast is more impressive on paper than they are in reality. Cruise plays his usual character and does it with no real charm or ability. He is trading off his fame here and his macho nonsense is rather tiresome. Kidman may have been Cruise's offscreen partner but viewers of this film will have seen their divorce coming because they have zero chemistry and she is poor throughout. It's not all her fault though, the script gives her nothing to work with. Thank god then, for Robert Duvall; he may be playing a fairly clichéd character but he does it well and steals every scene from his pretty but empty co-star. Support is good from Quaid and Rooker but Ewles is given too little time to make anything but a negative impression and Reilly had yet to prove his versatility and doesn't do it here.

Overall this is very much painting by the numbers in many regards. The plot is easy and lacks any sort of spark or innovation meaning that, when the cars are off the screen, it is easy for the film to get dull. The action scenes are OK but, as with F1, I find many motor sports to be dull and didn't get drawn into the predictable races as much as I wanted to. The script gives the cast nothing to really work with, and only Duvall comes out with any real dignity even if he has a cliché as opposed to a real person to play. This has all the failings you would expect and the end result of so little imagination is an average film that is watchable but no more than that.