DRIVEN (2001)

MORGAN'S RATING

A high-tech action drama set in the dangerous exhiarat-ing world of open-wheel racing, Driven centers on the lives and careers of four drivers chasing the ultimate adrenaline rush. Talented but unfocused rookie Jimmy Bly is slipping in the rankings, cracking under pressure from his ambitious promoter brother. And it doesn't help that Bly is having an affair with Sophia, the girlfriend of his nemsis, top racer Beau Brandenburg. With so much riding on Bly, car owner Carl Henry seeks help from former racing star Joe Tanto, whose once-promising career was cut short by a tragic accident that nearly killed him and another driver. But to steer Bly to the top, Tanto must navigate his scarred emotional past, meaneuver around the hovering presence of a reporter covering the male-dominated racing scene, and contend with Cathy, his ex-wife, who has since married rival racing sensation Memo Moreno. Caught between success, failure, regret and the need for speed, the four competitors put the pedal to the metal in pursuit of redemption and glory.

Sylvester Stallone (Joe Tanto), Burt Reynolds (Carl Henry), Kip Pardue (Jimmy Blye), Stacy Edwards (Lucretia "Luc" Jones), Til Schweiger (Beau Brandenburg), Estella Warren (Sophia Simone), Gina Gershon (Cathy), Robert Sean Leonard (Demille Blye), Brent Briscoe (Crusher), Cristian de la Fuente (Memo Moreno), Robert Sean Leonard (DeMille Bly), Michael Boisvert (Race Reporter), John Sanford Moore (Announcer), Verona Feldbusch (Nina), Jasmin Wagner, Brian Jennings (Reporter), Mark Finney (Mechanic), Chip Ganassi (Team Owner), Jean Alesi, Kenny Brack, Adrian Fernandez, Memo Gidley, Juan Pablo Montoya, Roberto Moreno, Max Papis, Jacques Villeneuve (themselves).

WELCOME TO THE HUMAN RACE!

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

DIRECTOR: Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger).

WRITERS: Sylvester Stallone, Jan Skrentny and Neal Tabachnick.

PRODUCERS: Renny Harlin, Elie Samaha and Sylvester Stallone.

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Michelle Davis and Leeza-Maria El Khazen.

CO-PRODUCERS: Tracee Stanley and Rebecca Spikings.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Don Carmody, Kevin King and Andrew Stevens.

LINE PRODUCER: Mike Drake.

LINE: RACE UNIT: Jake Jacobson.

ORIGINAL MUSIC: BT.

DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros.

QUOTES

Carl Henry: What about the fear? Joe Tanto: It's gone. Carl Henry: The fear is never gone.

FACTS

RELEASE DATE: April 27th, 2001 (USA) DVD RELEASE DATE: September 18th, 2001 (USA) BOX OFFICE OPENING: $12.1 million (USA) BOX OFFICE RESULT: $32.6 million (USA) BUDGET: $72 million (USA) SHOOTING DATES: July 2000 -- October 2000 - The film's luxurious 'Hotel Selin' is named after the director's friend, producer Markus Selin. - Harlin cameos as one of the racers dropping off his son at the playground before the Detroit race. - Some of the sounds are not of CART Champ Cars, but rather of Formula One cars. The movie was originally supposed to be about Formula One racing, but due to restrictions imposed on the production crew, the producers had to look elsewhere. Some of the race footage is from actual CART races at venues where CART allowed filming to take place. - The name of the character in the film, Memo Moreno, is a combination of two actual race car drivers in the CART series: Memo Tidley and Roberto Moreno. - Beau Brandenburg races for Target Ganassi Racing, whose owner is played by Chip Ganassi. In reality, Target Ganassi is an extremely successful CART team owned by the same person. - On one of the cars is advert for "Dog Chow". In the 1995 movie Showgirls, Gina Gershon famously talks about she used to love to eat Dog Chow. - Sylvester Stallone's original script was 220 pages. - Nominated for seven 2002 Razzie Awards for: Worst Picture, Worst Screen Couple, Worst Supporting Actor (Sylvester Stallone), Worst Supporting Actor (Burt Reynolds), Worst Supporting Actress (Estella Warren), Worst Director (Renny Harlin) and Worst Screenplay.

CRITICAL COMMENTS

"Unless you find car racing to be a nearly orgasmic experience, Driven offers little in the way of entertainment." -- James Berardinelli, Reelviews

"A movie by, for, and about the Attention Deficit Disordered." -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times

"Comically corny and crude speedway drama." -- Jonathan Foreman, New York Post

"Driven is mostly preposterous, and it has no dramatic center, but the racing scenes hold you in their death-trip grip." -- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

"The target audience of men, young and old, will admire the pedal-to-the-metal action and not be in the least bit put off by its rudimentary characters and silly plot dynamics." -- Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter

"When the film predictably limps across the finish line, you're left with the impression your time would have been better spent sitting in traffic." -- Michael Vega, Boston Globe

"A silly, overexaggerated movie." -- Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

"The racing and driving scenes are the best ever done." -- Ted Pfeifer, Reelinsider.com

"The racing footage will blow you away." -- Malcolm Ritter, Associated Press

"A slick, simplistic, and laughable effort that's reminisicent of a bad Jerry Bruckheimer film. A real bad Bruckheimer film." -- Lawrence Terenzi, Mr. Showbiz

"A music video shot by a COPS camera crew on crystal meth." -- Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post