Moderators: Bill_Abner, ScoopBrady
Pk:pk500 wrote:It was a solid movie, but it glossed over so much that I give it about a 7/10. Compared to other ESPN movies, this was a classic. But it wasn't a classic sports movie by any stretch.
I thought there was WAY too much emphasis on Earnhardt's relationship with Junior. Of course, that's marketing-driven, as Junior is god now in American racing, so what better way to interest people in the movie than focus on Junior?
And there was nothing about how much Earnhardt helped Junior during his Busch career and early Cup career. We went from Junior telling Daddy that he wanted to race to showing Junior and Daddy hugging before the fateful 2001 Daytona 500. What about the pure pride Earnhardt showed in victory lane when Junior earned his first Cup victory at Texas? What about their battles on the track in IROC and early in the Cup days? What about Senior getting pissed off at Junior for partying all the time and staying up all night playing PC games during his Busch career? Stuff like that would have helped fill out more blanks about their relationship.
A proper Dale Earnhardt movie probably needs about four hours to cover all of the facets of his most interesting life. And this movie was only 90 minutes, so shortcuts needed to be taken.
But the movie glossed over way too much of Earnhardt's Cup career. We had an hour of his early struggles and relationship with his father, then a few minutes about his Cup debut at Charlotte and the unveiling of the Goodwrench car, a tiny bit of lip service about Neil Bonnet's death, and all of the sudden we're at the 1998 Daytona 500. WTF?
What about Earnhardt leaving Childress briefly and then returning? What about the heartbreak of the 1990 Daytona 500? What about the budding rivalry with Gordon in the mid-90s? What about the friendship that Earnhardt eventually forged with former bitter rival Darrell Waltrip? What about giving a little more detail about how badly Earnhardt was hurt at Talladega? What about the close friendship between Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace? They weren't as tight or as tight for as long as Earnhardt and Bonnett, but Senior and Rusty were close buds.
Teresa also had a very softening effect on Earnhardt, as she helped him reconnect with his kids later in his life. But this movie didn't really touch on that too much. We went from "racing is everything Dale" to "let's take the kids karting and give Junior advice about a weed eater Dale" without much explanation or fill-in. That transformation was one of the more interesting parts of Earnhardt's character, and this movie didn't pay enough attention to it.
The racing scenes also were predictably over the top and "Days of Thunder" like. Yes, bumping and banging goes on in NASCAR. But this movie made it look like Earnhardt was incapable of driving a race car without contact, which was far from the truth.
Also, the depiction of Richard Childress seemed a bit over the top, too. Childress is a good salesman, but he's not the cheesy huckster that this movie depicted him to be.
That said, I thought the ending of the movie was EXCELLENT in the way the producers and director handled Earnhardt's death. That final scene with his dad was classy as hell.
Teal, you also were right about the voice of the kid who played Junior. I closed my eyes during the flick when the actor spoke, and it was Junior, plain and simple. Same with the guy who played Humpy Wheeler, who sounded so much like Humpy that it was frightening. Small world story: The guy who played Humpy in the movie, David Sherrill, is the brother-in-law of one of my best friends, who just so happens to be the PR director of Richard Childress Racing, for which Earnhardt drove most of his career.
Pepper was excellent, too. The guy was very impressive as Earnhardt.
A decent movie, and better than I expected. But "3" definitely was a made-for-TV flick. Had that "TNT" or "USA original" superficial quality to it. This was not "Raging Bull" -- let's put it that way.
Take care,
PK
