Take a star – here it’s top gun Tom Cruise – and mix in fast planes, bikes, cars or anything which makes a deafening noise, add a sexy woman, a few fights, a few laughs, a rock soundtrack, and presto, you’ve got a critic-proof blockbuster.
It was Cruise, a racing enthusiast, who had the idea to make a film about a racing driver. Screenwriter Robert Towne (Chinatown, Shampoo, The Last Detail) was then hired to flesh out the story about a cocky driver, Cole Trickle (Cruise), who thinks that if he can control speed, he can control his life.
The script is loaded with stock cars and stock characters – but Towne certainly does deliver what’s necessary: a workable setup for exciting NASCAR racing footage shot on 16 Winston Cup tracks from Daytona to Watkins Glen.
Robert Duvall as Trickle’s crusty crew chief, Harry, Randy Quaid as a promoter and Michael Rooker as rival driver Rowdy Burns – who becomes Trickle’s friend – pump conviction into the tiredest macho-buddy scenes.
Trickle also has a predictable romance with a doctor, played by Australian actress Nicole Kidman, who would become his real-life wife in December 1990.
Cole Trickle
Tom Cruise Harry Hogge
Robert Duvall Dr Claire Lewicki
Nicole Kidman Tim Daland
Randy Quaid Russ Wheeler
Cary Elwes Rowdy Burns
Michael Rooker Big John
Fred Thompson Buck Bretherton
John C. Reilly Waddell
J.C. Quinn Aldo Bennedetti
Don Simpson Jennie Burns
Caroline Williams Darlene
Donna Wilson Harlem Hoogerhyde
Chris Ellis
Director
Tony Scott
Video
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