Driven [Blu-ray]

Great action; no story
I wanted to walk out of 'DRIVEN' during the first ten minutes. Music and opening sequences were confusing, loud, annoying, and generally numbing. I realize the idea was to show us Jimmy Bly (Kip Pardue's character) was close to a nervous breakdown, but I almost had one along with him. I stayed in the theatre, deciding the movie had to get better. It did, but not by much.

What I LIKED was the action race scenes and that I learned some things about CART racing which I had never thought of, or realized. For example, timing a 'recovering from injuries' Jimmy to ensure he could get out of car within five seconds, to even be allowed into a race (CART rules), was interesting to me. The use of computers, laptops, and communications techniques with active drivers was cool. I loved Estella Warren in the pool(when she wasn't talking). I enjoyed the 'Luc' character (she was best at achieving most with an understated 'look'). I liked watching the action at the pit stops.

What I...

Release the Director's Cut
With Sylvester Stallone and Renny Harlin behind the wheel, you would expect "Driven" to be more entertaining than it actually is. The deleted scenes on the DVD give you a taste of what might have been. A "director's cut" is definitely in order.

The Worst Movie Ever?
As a fan of auto racing, particularly CART and F1, I had been cautiously anticipating the release of this movie on DVD for some time. However, it turns out thatthis movie was more unrealistic than my worst fears had considered. For example, in one seen, the movies two protagonists start their race cars, and go racing around on city streats at top speed. I suppose that Stallone forgot that Indy Cars do not have their own starters, they must be started with an external starter. Nothing about the racing and wrecking is realistic, despite the fact that Sylvester Stallone was seen at several races in the year prior to this movies release.

When you combine the unrealistic nature of the movie, with the complete lack of plot, and the poor acting, this movie doesn't even deserve a full star.

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