Cole Trickle enters the high-pressure world of Nascar racing. He’s a hot driver with a hot temper, and this attitude gets him into trouble not only with other drivers but members of his own team as well.
I’m not usually a fan of sports films. I find them to be predictable and full of jingoistic fervor. Come to think of it, there are only a few films that I actually felt moved by. Off the top of my head, I’d say “Creed,” “Ford vs Ferrari,” and “Warrior” are my cup of tea. “Days of Thunder” is not a great sports movie or even a good one. Director Tony Scott made two excellent films in the ’90s, “Crimson Tide” and “True Romance.” Here he reunites with Tom Cruise, hoping to rekindle that “Top Gun” magic. Set in the world of NASCAR, the story was co-written by Cruise and clearly he’s trying to get his “Rocky” mojo going.
On a dusty All-American farm, Harry Hogge (Robert Duvall) is tending to his crops when he’s approached by Tim Daland (Randy Quaid) with a tempting offer. Tim wants Harry to build a stock car for his mysterious new driver. Who is this mystery man? His name is Cole Trickle (Tom Cruise) and he appears majestically on a motorcycle with his exhaust forming an aura of ’90s bad boy coolness. It turns out he’s not that good of a driver, he’s just crazy enough to take on the scrappy car and pit crew. Cole’s initial outings on the racing circuit are amusing. He crashes into a lot of things to which Harry quips “hey, hit the pace car because you’re hitting everything else and I want you to be perfect!” There’s plenty of visual and written homo-eroticism in the form of double entendres especially when he forges a friendly-rivalry with Rowdy Burns (Michael Rooker).
Cole proclaims, “you build me a car and I’ll win Daytona next year.” Harry builds and designs an eye-popping hot green and yellow-colored race car, that honestly still looks cool. There’s product placement galore throughout that really highlights the mundane marketing of yesteryear. Naturally, for a Hollywood sports film, over time Cole becomes a top tier driver, winning 5 of his 6 races. The big day comes and Daytona AKA the Firecracker 400 is underway. After a few laps Rowdy crashes into the wall, Cole collides with him, and the two are sent to the hospital. “Days of Thunder”’s very clichéd second act is focused on overcoming his adversity and meeting his love interest. His doctor, named Claire, is played by a curly-haired Aussie accented Nicole Kidman. Of course, after some misogynistic nagging, they fall in love during some “Top Gun”-esque bike riding sequences full of smiles and idyllic sunsets.
The screenplay doesn’t age well, nothing is internalized by the characters, every thought is blurted out. A lot of characters have silly names and they all tell Cole how he’s just scared. I was surprised the story never explored why he was so frightened. One of my favorite composers, Hans Zimmer, unfortunately, produced the dated score, full of wailing guitars and drum kits straight out of some Olympic Games infomercial. All that aside, it’s not a total lemon of a picture, there’s a great scene where Cole and Rowdy are racing along Venice Beach, crashing their rentals into each other until they resemble crushed beer cans. Duvall and Rooker are some of my favorite actors and it was great to see a young smiling John C. Reilly and a goofy-malicious Cary Elwes rounding out the solid but ultimately underused cast. Luckily, I think it’s safe to say there won’t be a “Days of Thunder” reboot or sequel any time soon.
Available on 4K Ultra HD May 19th
Good morning. It is astonishing how your sight reviews go along with our \”normal\” society. NASCAR just began racing on TV on Sunday, and you are reviewing a race car movie. My opinion the live show far out ways this movie. With such a iconic actor i expected better. Anyway zoom, zoom, and fare the well. Thanks
Good morning Guy, I agree, I never thought this movie was that good but then again, I am not a sports person so there’s that! 🙂