( 4 reviews )
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Posted: 09-10-2007
As a big fan of the Indy 500 I just had to sit down and watch this one. Of course, as a 500 fan I'd seen parts of it before, but it was lots of fun to watch this one from start to finish. This one features plenty of real race footage from the Indy 500 and the racing storyline is not nearly so contrived as other Hollywood offerings from more recent years that feature better special effects.
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( 0 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: 01-30-2005
THIS MOVIE IS GREAT IF JUST TO SEE MICKEY ROONEY! ALTHOUGH MICKEY ALWAYS DESERVED MORE THAN WHAT HE WAS HANDED. IN MY OPINION THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A MORE TALENTED ACTOR IN THE MOVIES. HE MAKES ME LAUGH, HE MAKES ME CRY, HE MAKES ME HAPPY! GOD BLESS AMERICA! ANYHOW< THE MOVIE PLOT IS PRETTY GOOD! MICKEY DOES A OUTSTANDING JOB AS ALWAYS!
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( 2 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: 11-08-2003
Mickey Rooney has been underused a lot of times in his career. And this film is one of these times. He was short and that was a shortcoming (the right word in this case). So his roles were often innocuous ones in rather insignificant films. He has a face, if not a mug, and it is expressive to the utmost. He even has eyes that are as mobile as two wild birds in a stormy sky. His body, and I mean all his body, every single spot of it, is able to take any stand, stance and position that is meaningful and gives some flesh to his character and to the action. And it never looks overdone. His voice is also interesting though it is hardly worked upon enough. And here he is reduced to a pun. He is small so the wheel is big, the game is big, but he is the game (both meanings) of the director. And he is in the car racing business so the wheel is generally one of a set of four and it is also the big race track of Indianapolis and its 500. The film is essentially the story of a young car driver who climbs to the top, i.e. Indianapolis 500. The rest is wrapping up to give some sense to the film and some feeling to the situation and the action. A father who killed himself in Indianapolis. A mother who is scared out of her mind by the race. A mechanic who was the friend of the dead father, is in love with the mother and finally marries her. The daughter of the sugardaddy of the team looks like a boy and plays mechanic, and of course she falls in love with the poor Bill, Mickey Rooney. And that's about all. Unlucky us who do not get what we deserve : a film with a plot and some thickness. It sickens more than it thickens most of the time. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
