The emotional fire dance sequence in Dances With Wolves shows the character of John Dunbar discovering inner peace. A scene ostensibly about a lost soul finding his way back home, the fire dance can also be construed as a direct form of joyful artistic culmination. For when we watch Dunbar dance giddily around the fire, it isn't too hard to imagine Kevin Costner sharing that same happiness with the character. The fire dance is one of the rare moments in a film where the sheer enthusiasm for a project explodes off the screen… and is absolutely contagious to the audience.
I felt that same vibe during the audacious German race in Driven. In a film literally brimming over with kinetic invention, director Renny Harlin chose this particular scene to unleash all the visual powers at his disposal. In a sequence where individual raindrops seemingly explode against helmet visors like meteor impacts, the spectacular crash by Memo Moreno (an ingratiating Cristian de le Fuente) is proof positive that Harlin loved this particular project with every fiber of his creative soul. The staging of this crash shows the kind of enthusiasm that simply cannot be bought. It must truly be felt.
Set against the glamorous backdrop of international CART racing, the baseline story of Driven is about finding control. The characters that populate the film are searching for a balance in their lives, both emotionally and mentally. The movie begins with rookie phenom Jimmy Blye (Kip Purdue) losing his mental edge as the pressures of success and fame begin to mount. Blye's doppelganger is Beau Brandenburgh (Til Schweiger), a cocky European champ who is emotionally coming apart at the seams. While Blye is being crushed under the strong fisted guardianship of his brother Demille (a terrific Robert Sean Leonard), Beau is being smothered by the well-meaning affections of girlfriend Sophia (Estella Warren). Both characters ultimately turn against the people that love them most, and pay the high price for solidarity.
Thrust into the mix is Sylvester Stallone, portraying washed-up racer Joe “The Hummer” Tanto. Although this character becomes the guiding force for the drivers, Tanto is also seeking relief from the same ailments afflicting the two young protagonists. By helping Blye and Beau succeed on and off the track, Tanto ultimately heals the wounds he's sustained over the course of his own life.
For fans of Sylvester Stallone, the screenplay for Driven is a welcome return to the type of writing he so often engaged during the pinnacle of his career. The memorable creations of Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang and Bull Hurley are all conjured up in Driven. The hyperbolic title matches in the Rocky films are given a new sheen in the various race venues of this film. And the redemptive folk heroes of the past are given a fresh overhaul with this newest creation.
The most astonishing thing about the Driven script is how tremendously autobiographical the characters are. Both Blye and Beau are two halves of Stallone's career: one a man who nearly threw away his fame because of nerves, the other a man who nearly tossed away his life because of love. The literary culmination of Driven is about life lessons learned and redemption coming through faith and love. Not since the original Rocky has Sylvester Stallone written something so personal.
But if Sly's screenplay is the heart of Driven, then Renny Harlin is the soul. His passion for filmmaking and for CART racing itself is fully realized in the film. While the Rocky films were criticized for having more punches thrown in a single match then most fighters exchange in an entire career, the frequent crashes contained in Driven are just as unrealistic; they represent entertainment, not reality. The film isn't a serious documentary about racecar driving, but a romantic tone poem for what every fan imagines that world to be like.
A definite career high, Driven is yet another Renny Harlin victory lap.
--Yim Kip
The Official Driven Web Site
Renny Harlin.com
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