Roadracers

Wow! It's very rare to get such an excellent, entertaining film made for TV. It's a cool homage to 50's road movies with David Arquette on top, TOP form as possibly the coolest character ever put to screen. Rodriguez' unmistakable editing and filming style combined with a snappy soundtrack and a nice dark tone to the story make this a must-see. It should have been released in cinemas.

A friend of mine saw this movie on Showtime & recommended it. I had the good fortune to rent - & later buy the laserdisc version which includes a Director's commentary track. The film's good, but RR's commentary makes it MUCH better. Hearing how he ended up getting this gig, what exactly he was given to work with and how he ended up with the film you're watching, is another great story for fans of the director or just film-making in general. On the comment track he alludes to lots of other material that he has from this project, like videos made during production, and makes an offhand comment to the effect that 'someday if this ever comes out on DVD....' Well, I for one would stand in line for a copy. If you enjoy the 10 minute film school features & other extras on RR's DVDs, you too should petition the powers that be to release RoadRacers on DVD - along with the original (&/or new) commentary track & extras.

It's am important step in Rodriguez' evolution from maverick indy to maverick big-league filmmaker. A DVD version would be a must-have for any fan.

This movie is just nuts. It's a true original. It has so many little things that are just stupid and seem to have no point, but is ultimately tied together as a serious drama, which is really weird. Even movies that defy convention conform to some rules, but this is just all over the map and I love it. The bald girl losing her wig was both puzzling and hilarious both times it happened. It makes you wonder why such a ridiculously juvenile comedic device was used in such inappropriate circumstances, and I guess that may well be the whole point of it. It actually did hold together as a serious drama despite the odd tangents, which is all the more impressive.

Roadracers is an underrated and hugely enjoyable film. The plot is, of course, not very original (though this could be due to it being a remake of a drive-in classic?? :) ), but I feel that this general plot is hiding the deeper sub-plots of the film. There is Salma Hayek's portrayal of Donna, Hispanic and adopted by 'white' parents. It's rather disappointing that director Rodriguez that he fails to bring Donna's enigmatic family history to the forefront, and we are left wondering why this was even included in the film if it was never going to be solved. The cruelty of authority is (as always) revealed by redneck thug, 'Sarge' who shamelessly will try anything to get rebel Doody out of his town. Primarily, Roadracers is entertaining, and there are countless scenes that are hilarious. One of my particular favourites is the homo-erotic scene which involves 'Sarge', his lieutenant and a sausage roll. Sarge takes such delight in fondling his sausage roll, claiming that his 'momma makes 'em specially for 'im', and instructs his foolish lieutenent to similarly inspect, molest and finally indulge in his own roll. Sarge takes similar glee in producing the pastries firstly from a pocket in his jacket, and then seemingly from another pocket elsewhere... I was almost expecting him to pull one out from another bodily location... Nixer is delightful as Dood's endearing sidekick, and David Arquette does an excellent job on playing the character of the restless teen (he's also mightily aesthetically pleasing- eye candy if you will.) The soundtrack is also great, as are the characters of Teddy Leather and his cronies (my own names for them? :the Pig and Neanderthal Man- I'm sure people who've seen the film know which one is which!!) I basically think that just because Roadracers is a TV movie, it shouldn't be ignored separately from Rodriguez's more recent films - after all you can see in this film the makings of a great director, and most of his usual trademarks.

For a quickie TV movie 'Roadracers' is a hell of a lot of fun. Robert Rodriguez made this homage to AIP in between his astonishing low budget debut 'El Mariachi' and its disappointing sequel 'Desperado'. David Arquette's performance really makes this one work. I often find Arquette's stoner characters to be irritating but he's quite different here, and really good. His greaser character Buddy must decide between playing guitar in a rock'n'roll band or playing the hand destiny has dealt him in a small town that despises him. Rodgriguez regular Salma Hayek plays Arquette's girlfriend, and his geeky best friend who is obsessed with 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers' is played by John Hawkes who you will probably remember from the opening sequence of 'From Dusk Til Dawn'. And then there's William Sadler as the sheriff who detests Buddy. Sadler's always good no matter what he's in. I can't argue that this is a great movie but it is a very entertaining one, and worth tracking down.