Driven (2001)

Driven (2001)-*1\2

Directed By: Renny Harlin

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds, Til Schweiger, Kip Pardue, Estella Warren, Gina Gershon, and Robert Sean Leonard






"The street track is very dangerous!"






In the dangerous world of drag racing, Jimmy Bly (Pardue) is an up and coming drag racer. He is always battling fellow racer Beau Brandenburg (Schweiger) to be number one. When Bly falls into a slump, Carl Henry (Reynolds) hires old salt Joe "The Hummer" Tanto (Stallone) to mentor him. There is a lame romantic subplot involving Sophia Simone (Warren) and it causes more animosity with Beau and Bly.


While this is not a straight to video release, it sure looks like one. For example when Tanto is racing, he runs over CGI quarters that look awful and it is hilarious. The racing sequences leave a lot to be desired and apes Days Of Thunder (1990). There is pervasive product placement throughout the movie. It is basically a 2-hour commercial for Nextel and Target.com among many others.

There are numerous dialogue scenes between Tanto and Beau which are nigh-unintelligible because Sly slurs his speech and Til has a heavy German accent.



This nonsense was written by Stallone (including all the funny names) and a lot of plot items make no sense or are not fully thought through.

I guess Carl has a past with Joe Tanto and he forces him to mentor Bly with the line: "We go back, you and me. We go way back. You owe me Joe.". We never know the past between them. There is the prerequisite scene where Bly gets in over his head and Tanto yells: "You don't know who you are anymore!"



The most annoying thing about the movie is that it is geared towards the ADD\ADHD generation. Every scene has lame rock music from the 3-CD collection "The Edge" (not sold in stores!)

"Driven"? more like Drivel!

Comeuppance Review by: Ty

Pursued (2004)

Pursued (2004) -* * *

Directed By: Kristoffer Tabori

Starring: Christian Slater, Gil Bellows, Estella Warren, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Saul Rubinek









Pursued is a fun, if silly thriller. Jack Nicholson's long lost "cousin" Christian Slater stars as Vincent Palmer, a headhunter for a transfer company. Ben Keats (Bellows) becomes a target after Keats refuses Palmer's offer. Vincent becomes increasingly persistent even stalking Ben's family. Can he escape?

Christian Slater is excellent as Palmer. He knows how to be calm and to be ruthless at the same time, and make you believe it. Bellows is boring and Duncan doesn't have a lot of screen time. The ending is suspenseful, but a little ridiculous.

 Pursued is worth watching for a hyped-up Slater and the unusual plot.



Comeuppance Review by: Ty

I Accuse (2003)

I Accuse (2003) -* * *

Directed By: John Ketchum

Starring: John Hannah and Estella Warren










I Accuse is based on a true story. The story is about Dr. Schneeburger who drugged one of his female patients and raped her. But the twist was.... there was no DNA evidence. I saw it on "Forensic Files".

This is a well-written and acted interpretation. Estella Warren plays the victim named Kimberly. She is partying one night and has to go to the hospital after cutting her hand. She wasn't treated, but drugged and raped by Dr. Darian (Hannah). Kimberly has a bad reputation around town as a tramp and no one believes her. She can't press charges because there's no evidence. John Hannah and Warren put in excellent performances.


Hannah plays the evil doctor without going over the top. The mystery aspect is well-handled, but the courtroom scene near the end is a little overdramatic. Overall, worth seeing for the acting and interesting story.


Comeuppance Review by: Ty