Driven (2001) Review:

Fast cars and racing is usually an exciting activity. There's lots of energy surrounding the sport and octane only amps it up to intense levels. That's the kind of feeling a viewer should get when watching a film related to such an activity. At least, that's what one would think. It can be confusing when the opposite occurs because it just doesn't seem to fit at all. In that case someone should have said that to the people behind the production of this movie. Sadly, the early 2000s was not kind to Sylvester Stallone who stars in this feature. And this one is quite possibly the reason why nothing worked out right, because, this film is just boring. Kind of shocking when it's directed by Renny Harlin, who has worked with Stallone before.

"Do you think I look believable enough?"

The story revolves around Jimmy Bly (Kip Pardue), a rookie racer who's making his way up to the big leagues and may have the chance at winning the world competition. Managing him from behind is Carl Henry (Burt Reynolds) and his brother Demille (Robert Sean Leonard). Looking to win as well is Bly's competitor Beau Brandenburg (Til Schweiger). Both Brandenburg and Bly begin to lose focus of their goals when they get caught up between one girl, Sophia (Estella Warren). Noticing the slips, Henry calls in Joe Tanto (Sylvester Stallone) to get Bly back on track before he ruins his upcoming major break. The screenplay was also written by Stallone, and whatever he did, did not make much sense at all. The focus of the story is very much generic and bland.

Aside from this main thread, Tanto also has a subplot going on about him between an old flame Cathy (Gina Gershon) and a reporter he begins talking to named Lucretia (Stacy Edwards). Unfortunately, this doesn't really go anywhere because the old flame already has a new main squeeze; Memo (Cristián de la Fuente). The biggest issue with this film's story is the pacing. The movie isn't overly long in reality but majority of it feels like an eternity. Renny Harlin should know better, but the story just drags. Most of the main leads do not help in making it any more watchable. The only character to actually feel worth rooting for is Til Schweiger's character. Partly because he's the one has an interesting arc, while the others don't. Kip Pardue is as lifeless as they come and some of his character's decisions make no sense.

It's even worse when veteran actors like Burt Reynolds and Sylvester Stallone are not even a highlight to the picture. They really have no charisma to their characters at all, which is sad to see. The love triangle between the Stallone and Pardue characters are cliché and overdone. It's just baffling to think this is still a thing. Not even the racing scenes are that entertaining. While there is some tension on what'll happen to certain characters, much of it is flat and random. Again, this is disappointing when Renny Harlin and Sylvester Stallone both have worked together and have done action before. There are crash and burns, but it has no weight almost all the time.

Kip Pardue & Estella Warren

Then again, half the time those scenes weren't very clear because the editing team on this feature butchered it so haphazardly. There are scenes in consecutive order where they are different angles of the same shot. It is bizarre to watch. Thankfully the cinematography shot by Mauro Fiore looked professional. Fiore who would also be a cameraman for Get Carter (2000), Smokin' Aces (2006), Avatar (2009), The A-Team (2010) and Southpaw (2015), makes the scenes filmed look decent enough. This doesn't take away though from composer BT's stock score to the film. Even if BT has the skills to produce complex synthesized music, here it's not very prevalent. Oh well BT, maybe film scores aren't your thing.

Cinematography and literally one character stand out as the things to like with this film. The action isn't anything special, the cast of actors are not impressive with their performances and the story is a giant snooze fest. That's rough considering it involves high speed vehicles.

Points Earned --> 3:10