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"DRIVEN"
(2001) (Sylvester Stallone, Kip Pardue) (PG-13)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Moderate Minor Heavy Mild None
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Mild None Minor *None *Heavy
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Moderate Minor None Mild Moderate


QUICK TAKE:
Action/Drama: A seasoned racecar driver is called in to help a young driver through his rookie season as the latter tries to become the open-wheel racing champion of the year.
PLOT:
Jimmy Bly (KIP PARDUE) is the rookie racecar driver of the year in open wheel racing, a point that doesn't sit that well with the current champion, Beau Brandenburg (TIL SCHWEIGER), particularly since the two are locked in a heated battle to be this year's champ. As a result, Beau dumps his long-term girlfriend, Sophia Simone (ESTELLA WARREN), claiming she's a distraction to his focus.

In Bly's camp, team owner Carl Henry (BURT REYNOLDS), a former driver now confined to a wheelchair, decides to call in veteran driver Joe Tanto (SYLVESTER STALLONE) to replace the rookie's driving partner, Memo Moreno (CRISTIAN DE LA FUENTE). Joe hasn't driven in years, but Carl believes in him, particularly since they go back a long ways through the racing circuit together.

As Jimmy's manager and brother, DeMille (ROBERT SEAN LEONARD), tries to keep his sibling focused and away from Sophia, Joe deals with his still bitter ex-wife, Cathy (GINA GERSHON), who's married to Memo; an ambitious journalist, Lucretia "Luc" Clans (STACY EDWARDS), who wants to cover the sport and his return to it; and Carl's ruthless approach at winning.

With only ten races left in the season, Joe does what he can to deal with all of those and other external factors and complications, all while trying to help Jimmy grow as a racer and not forget what got him into racing in the first place.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
If they're into auto racing or are fans of someone in the cast, they just might.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13
For language and some intense crash sequences.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • SYLVESTER STALLONE plays a veteran driver who's called in to help a rookie win the racing championship by mentoring him and serving as his blocking teammate.
  • KIP PARDUE plays that rookie driver who must contend with the pressure put on him to win, as well as his attraction to another driver's dumped girlfriend.
  • BURT REYNOLDS plays the paraplegic owner of the team who will do anything to win.
  • STACY EDWARDS plays a reporter who's there to cover the sport and seems to become an item with Joe.
  • TIL SCHWEIGER plays the reigning racing champion who's something of an "ice man" toward others, including his long term girlfriend whom he dumps after labeling her as a distraction. He eventually changes his ways, however, and tries to win her back.
  • GINA GERSHON plays Joe's still bitter ex-wife who's condescending toward him and Luc and briefly uses some profanity.
  • ESTELLA WARREN plays Beau's girlfriend who's shocked that he unceremoniously dumps her and then becomes friendly with Jimmy.
  • CRISTIAN DE LA FUENTE plays another driver and Jimmy's first racing partner who also just so happens to be married to Cathy.
  • ROBERT SEAN LEONARD plays Jimmy's ultra-controlling manger brother who won't let others near him and is condescending to some.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
    Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


    (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    Here's a quick look at the content found in this PG-13 rated film. Profanity may include 1 use of the "f" word (seen mouthed, but noise prevented a clear call about whether it can be heard) and otherwise has at least 1 use of the "s" word, along with other expletives and colorful phrases. Some brief and non-explicit, but sexually related dialogue is present, while the camera often focuses on pretty and shapely women or just parts of their bodies. Accordingly, various amounts of cleavage and skin are seen, as is one shot of a woman suggestively eating what looks like a long cinnamon stick.

    Various car crashes occur, some of which might be somewhat tense for some viewers (the cars disintegrate, fly across the track and one ends up upside down in a body of water where others must rescue the driver), although no one is killed. Some other brief pushing and one punch also occur. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while some also drink at various events. Beyond that, kids might get the idea to drive cars down the street at high speeds (as occurs in one scene).

    Should you still be concerned about the film and its appropriateness for anyone in your home, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed content listings for more specific examples of what's present and occurs in it.


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • Champagne is passed at a racing reception.
  • Various drivers celebrate by spraying champagne.
  • DeMille has a drink.
  • Carl and others drink wine.
  • Jimmy has a beer at a nightclub where others also drink, including Sophia.
  • Carl has what looks like wine.
  • People have drinks in a bar.
  • Sophia has a drink in front of her in a bar.
  • People have drinks at a reception, including Cathy.
  • Joe and Luc have drinks in front of them.
  • Some spectators at a race appear to be drinking beer.
  • Various drivers celebrate by spraying champagne after another race, with one of them taking a swig from the bottle.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • A driver has some blood on his head after being in an accident. We later see him in the hospital with various bruises on his face.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Beau breaks up with Sophia, blaming her for his losing streak and being nothing more than a distraction to him.
  • DeMille has a bad attitude toward nearly everyone, telling them they must speak through him if they want to talk to Jimmy. He's condescending toward Sophia, puts pressure on Jimmy to win and eventually goes behind his back in an attempt to sign another driver to replace him.
  • Cathy has a bitter and confrontational attitude toward Joe, saying that she married Memo because he's a better and younger version of Joe.
  • Carl is an owner who will do anything to win, including ordering Joe to cut in front of an opponent so that Jimmy can win a race, and then wanting to cut Jimmy's contract for not winning as often as he'd like (although he's won many races in his rookie year).
  • Joe doesn't dress up for a black tie reception.
  • Spotting Luc (a female) with Joe, Cathy tells him (within earshot of Luc) that if he doesn't get it (sex) by midnight, he probably won't get it, and even if he does, she doesn't think it will be worth it.
  • Jimmy "borrows" a prototype racecar and blasts out of a reception, driving the car down the middle of the city streets at full speed (thus endangering others' lives), trying to elude Joe who's chasing after him.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • The various car crash scenes, listed under "Violence," may also be tense or unsettling for some viewers, while the races themselves might be tense in a sports-related, "who will win" fashion to others.
  • Jimmy "borrows" a prototype racecar and blasts out of a reception, driving the car down the middle of the city streets at full speed (thus endangering others' lives), trying to elude Joe who's chasing after him and ends up going under many parked tractor trailers.
  • Another car flips up into the air and when it lands back on the track, another speeding car crashes directly into it, sending it exploding and flying off the track. It then lands upside down in a body of water, trapping the driver. Jimmy and Beau arrive on the scene and attempt to flip over the car before the driver drowns and the leaking fuel ignites (which it eventually does, with the car exploding in a huge fireball, but none of the three are further harmed by the explosion, although Jimmy's ankle is hurt during the rescue).
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • None.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "Bullsh*t," "Kicking my ass," "Give 'em hell," "Wise ass," "Arrogant ass," "Stupid bitch" (what Cathy calls Luc), "Get the hell away from me," "Hell of a show," "What the hell are you doing?" and "Who busted his ass?"
  • Joe does a bit where he tosses three coins onto the track and then drives back around and runs over them, embedding them in his tires.
  • Luc gives Cathy (who's been condescending toward her) "the finger" by rubbing her eye with her middle finger and stating "I think your mascara is running."
  • Jimmy "borrows" a prototype racecar and blasts out of a reception, driving the car down the middle of the city streets at full speed (thus endangering others' lives), trying to elude Joe who's chasing after him and ends up driving under a row of parked tractor trailers.
  • Memo snaps a towel against Jimmy's clothed butt.
  • JUMP SCENES
  • None.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • Just a tiny bit of suspenseful music plays during the film.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • None that we hear, but several songs had lyrics that couldn't be understood.
  • PROFANITY
  • A character mouths (and possibly quietly says) the "f" word in one scene. Beyond that, there's at least 1 "s" word, 9 hells, 7 damns, 6 asses, 2 S.O.B.s, 1 crap, 2 uses each of "G-damn," "God" and "Oh my God," and 1 use each of "For Christ's sakes" and "Jesus" as exclamations.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • Through the film, the camera focuses on clothed body parts or bare cleavage of various pretty and shapely women who are usually wearing tight and/or revealing clothing. In one such scene, we see just a tiny bit of the bottom of some women's butts in their very short hot pants. In another, the camera focuses on Sophia doing some gymnastic style swimming where she spread her legs wide in her one-piece bathing suit and also shows cleavage. In yet another, a woman's dress flies up when a car zooms by her, thus revealing her panties. Finally, one shows a woman suggestively eating what looks like a long cinnamon stick (which elicited giggles from teen males in our audience who obviously got the purposeful symbolic bit about male oral sex).
  • A woman comes up and squeezes Bly's butt.
  • Seeing that Jimmy is interested in Sophia, DeMille asks her if she's working her way down the track.
  • Luc shows some cleavage, as does Cathy who wears a party dress that's cut very low in both the front and back.
  • Spotting Luc (a female) with Joe, Cathy tells him (within earshot of Luc) that if he doesn't get it (sex) by midnight, he probably won't get it, and even if he does, she doesn't think it will be worth it. Later, Cathy talks to Luc and mentions that perhaps she (Luc) likes being manhandled.
  • SMOKING
  • A miscellaneous person is briefly seen smoking, while we see a logo for Kool cigarettes during one of the races.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • None.
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • Racing, and the life of a racecar driver.
  • Through the film, the camera focuses on clothed body parts of various pretty and shapely women who are usually wearing tight and/or revealing clothing.
  • The corporate sponsorship of such racing (where corporate names are plastered all over the drivers and their cars).
  • VIOLENCE
  • A racecar crashes and goes end over end through the air and falls apart on impact, eventually landing upside down.
  • Jimmy's car slams into a wall at high speed during a race and disintegrates, but after a few moments, we see that he's okay as he walks away.
  • Beau pushes Jimmy aside when the latter tries to stop Beau from talking to Sophia.
  • Glass in a bus stop canopy breaks when a racecar zooms by it at high speed.
  • Joe pushes Jimmy in a brief street confrontation.
  • Two racecars collide head on during a race with one going airborne after a brief explosion.
  • Another car flips up into the air and when it lands back on the track, another speeding car crashes directly into it, sending it exploding and flying off the track. It then lands upside down in a body of water, trapping the driver. Jimmy and Beau arrive on the scene and attempt to flip over the car before the driver drowns and the leaking fuel ignites (which it eventually does, with the car exploding in a huge fireball, but none of the three are further harmed by the explosion, although Jimmy's ankle is hurt during the rescue).
  • Sophia punches DeMille in the nose (for the way he's treated her in the past).
  • A car crashes during another race and its tire nearly hits people in the stands (by falling from the sky). Other cars then also crash during the race (with some going way off the course and one into some nearby water).



  • Reviewed April 23, 2001 / Posted April 27, 2001

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