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
