Speedway Junky

Rating:
Summary: Viva Lost Vegas
Review: Some have said this movie isn't "real" enough . . . but it needn't be. What it is, is a film with a lot of heart and if one approaches it as a fable, you'll find it works. It's a heartbreaker of a movie with strong, committed performances by everyone involved. Dreams of NASCAR collide with male prostitution, shattered dreams and street life in Vegas for a gripping, sometimes unsettling, beautiful little movie.


Rating:
Summary: Interesting & disappointing appetizer, but not a whole meal
Review: Speedway Junky is an indie film and as such I think we need to provide some latitude with regard to a rating scale. That said, the script of an independent film does not need to be given any latitude. Such is the case with this film. The young actors who carry this film are doing their level best to make this an engaging film - and to their credit, that much happens. In fact, the acting here is far better than many much higher profile films.

Jesse Bradford (of Hackers and Clockstoppers) is a teenager who's run away from home to become a race car driver in Charlotte, NC (thus the title of the film). He makes it to Las Vegas where (fairly believably) he expects to strike it rich and finance the rest of his trip to NC. Of course, he is ripped off and forced to stay in Vegas and basically live on the street. Then he meets Eric (Jordan Brower), whom he doesn't realize is an underage male prostitute. He and Eric become friends and he begins living in Eric's (is it an abandoned building or is it just a really seedy weekly hotel?) place.

Apparently here is where the story begins to get hackneyed and disjointed. Of course, you can ultimately follow the story, but it just doesn't have the flow necessary to keep the tensions high when they need to be, nor the emotions steady when they need to be.

Eric, of course, is a cute as a bug, clean cut, non-drug using, prostitute with a heart of gold (aren't they all?). He falls for Bradford, but Bradford isn't gay (he later divulges that he is in fact a virgin - period. Eric hangs out with a group of other teen boys and girls (are they all prostitutes and thieves or just some of them?). To the credit of the screenwriter, the "leading" kids are unique and identifiable.

Jonathon Taylor Thomas (of Home Improvement fame) shows up as a slick smoothe "buy"sexual ("if you buy him something nice, he'll have sex with you") streetwalker. Just what this capable actor is doing in this film is unknown. He is good in the part, what there is of it, but either he or the screenwriter, or the editor decided to make his character vague and lackluster. Thomas is the villain of the piece and as such we should know more about him, but we don't.

Darryl Hanna shows up as a former female prostitute with a heart of gold, dating a cop, and who just happens to be the best friend of Eric's mother who abandoned him (got all that?). I've always thought that Hanna was an "actor-lite," and I've never been sure how she managed to get as many parts as she has. Here, in a fairly creepy scene (Hanna's pushing 40 isn't she?) she "deflowers" our little star, Bradford, as a favor for her little buddy Eric, who goes nuts over the thought that Bradford is having sex with someone other than him. To his credit, Brower, makes his young character believable and charismatic.

I won't go farther in detailing the plot, because it does have a touching and interesting "twist" in it, but it is one that you've seen before in dozens of films of similar genre (Sharkey's Machine, My Own Private Idaho, and any other film where there is a good-hearted hooker in love with a respectable person).

It's not that this is a BAD film, because it's not. In fact, I think with a better edit job, the film could be much better. With a beefier script and editor, it could be supremely better.

Make no mistakes: this is a drama and a slow one. However, the performances make it worth watching, even if the script is lacking.

I do recommend this film, because it is far better than many other "gay" genre or prostitute genre films such as "No One Sleeps" (or any other film Wolf Video). In fact, Gus Van Sant, as executive producer, seems to have had a hand in aspects of the film.

Check it out, but don't expect it to be a fully satisfying venture.

Rating:
Summary: "Speedway Junkie" Fine Attempt at a Dangerous Subject
Review: The performances in "Speedway Junkie" ranged from good to excel-
lent. Nothing to complain about there.

The story was surprisingly warm for a tale about male prosti-
tutes. The relationship between a gay street hustler and a neophyte whose dream is to race stock cars starts with the usual
shock and disgust and develops into a caring, trusting friendship. Problems with housing, food, and crime threaten from
every turn.

Not a great film, but an enlightening one.

Rating:
Summary: Good effort, but not quite edgy enough
Review: This 1999 film didn't get wide distribution. That's too bad because it does have some good qualities. I tend to like trashy films depicting the seedy side of life. Speedway Junky is one of those. The writer/director Nicholas Perry did a pretty good job. But even with Gus Van Sant as one of the executive producers, it didn't quite come off as edgy enough.

The film stars Jesse Bradford as Johnny, an army brat who has run away from home to become a race car driver. He's aiming for the NASCAR racing scene in Charlotte, North Carolina. The problem is that he only gets as far as Las Vegas where his money and all his possessions are stolen. Here, he meets up Eric, played by Jordon Brower, a young gay hustler who falls in love with Johnny. Even though Johnny is not gay, the two of them become friends, with Eric helping Johnny out of one scrape after another. Daryl Hanna is cast as a former prostitute who was a friend of Eric's late mother and helps out the boys. It's a good role for her and shows her acting ability. In fact, all the acting is really good and the relationship between the two young men portrayed well.

I watched the film with interest but couldn't get into it. I just didn't seem real enough. And even though there were several erotic scenes and a peppering of violence, it all seemed like an overblown soap opera and I didn't feel any real emotion. It sure did try hard to be something more though. And I therefore recommend it just for its effort.

Rating:
Summary: Good effort, but not quite edgy enough
Review: This 1999 film didn't get wide distribution. That's too bad because it does have some good qualities. I tend to like trashy films depicting the seedy side of life. Speedway Junky is one of those. The writer/director Nicholas Perry did a pretty good job. But even with Gus Van Sant as one of the executive producers, it didn't quite come off as edgy enough.

The film stars Jesse Bradford as Johnny, an army brat who has run away from home to become a race car driver. He's aiming for the NASCAR racing scene in Charlotte, North Carolina. The problem is that he only gets as far as Las Vegas where his money and all his possessions are stolen. Here, he meets up Eric, played by Jordon Brower, a young gay hustler who falls in love with Johnny. Even though Johnny is not gay, the two of them become friends, with Eric helping Johnny out of one scrape after another. Daryl Hanna is cast as a former prostitute who was a friend of Eric's late mother and helps out the boys. It's a good role for her and shows her acting ability. In fact, all the acting is really good and the relationship between the two young men portrayed well.

I watched the film with interest but couldn't get into it. I just didn't seem real enough. And even though there were several erotic scenes and a peppering of violence, it all seemed like an overblown soap opera and I didn't feel any real emotion. It sure did try hard to be something more though. And I therefore recommend it just for its effort.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling if imperfect character study
Review: This film provides an interesting combination of "name" actors in an independent venture telling an off-beat story of friendship and love. Jesse Bradford (Johnny), Jordan Brower (Eric), and Darryl Hannah (Veronica) give strong performances, while Jonathan Taylor Thomas (Steve) delivers a good performance that is perhaps just a bit too studied to be completely believable.

This is JTT's second film dealing with a gay theme (he was previously in Showtime's "Common Ground", playing a gay high-school athlete.) It is certainly enjoyable to see him again playing against type -- in this case taking a hit off a hash pipe and brandishing a cigarette while tossing around the f-word -- but for me there was something missing in his portrait of a streetwise bisexual hustler. Since his character Steve is a supporting player rather than a lead, whatever weaknesses lurk in JTT's work don't affect the overall quality of the film too much. I still like it enough to award it 4 stars. There is much sincerity and craft here.

Indeed, this movie is for the most part excellent. Brower has the most opportunity to show his range as an actor and he takes good advantage of it. His character Eric is gay and in love with the straight Johnny played by Jesse Bradford. Eric knows that his attraction to Johnny is doomed to remain one-sided, and Brower communicates Eric's emotional turmoil about this very effectively. This is especially true in a crucial scene where he finally expresses his feelings to Johnny.

My one quibble is with some clunkiness in the script. There are convenient coincidences that jolt the viewer with their unlikelihood, as when an older man is driving Johnny around town and Johnny finally figures out what the man is after. Johnny jumps out of the car at a random street corner then walks a few paces, only to find Eric seated curbside on a bench. There is no acknowledgement of how strange and lucky this happenstance is -- the characters simply start talking as though they'd been planning to meet up all along.

Another coincidence occurs when one character is out on his own and gets beat up badly, only to awaken days later in another character's apartment. How did this amazing rescue happen to take place? We are expected to believe that another character stumbled upon the unconscious victim and, remembering him from a prior evening, got him to a safe haven.

What I like most about the film is the way it tells the story of Eric's redemption through selfless love. Knowing that sexual consummation is impossible, Eric nonetheless perseveres in his devotion to Johnny. In one scene he even engineers a life-changing experience for Johnny that, as transforming as it is for Johnny, at the same time causes Eric considerable personal pain. Both Eric and Johnny are changed by their friendship in a way that is truly moving. Johnny comes to recognize Eric as the best friend he has ever had, and Eric finds solace in the knowledge that he has for the first time been able to feel a kind of true, selfless love for another person. The characters' growth toward these realizations is well-handled. We are engrossed in what we see as Johnny gradually becomes more street-smart, and we can sympathize with Eric as he lets down his guard and learns to trust his feelings for Johnny. Johnny also comes to understand how Eric feels and is finally capable of returning his affection, if only in his own way.

That said, the ending of the film is something of a disappointment (that clunky script again.) I will not spoil anything here, but suffice to say that the story resorts to a tired plot device that ruined many a gay-themed movie in the 70's and 80's, in what I see as a desperate ploy for the (potentially straight?) audience's deepest sympathies. I wish the writer/director had had more confidence in the ability of the characters to emotionally involve the viewer and spared us the cliched turn of events. This ending did not have to be.

As for "rated-R" content, there is no nudity and sex of the heterosexual type is alluded to more than actually depicted. There is no gay sex shown although it is certainly discussed. Which means that the "R" rating is mainly due to language and adult themes -- a rather tame "R" when considered altogether.

From a technical standpoint, the DVD version of this film renders everything beautifully. Much of the film takes place at night, resulting in a shadowy milieu, but the picture is sharp and clear. In the area of sound, however, problems arise. Spoken dialog seems to be reproduced at a lower level than the background music. As a result I found myself cranking up the volume for many of the dialog scenes, only to have to turn it back down again when the soundtrack kicked in at full force.

Rating:
Summary: Well done !!
Review: This film was well made and enjoyable. An excellent story and very well made. Gus has done it again. The acting was good and well timed lines worked powerfully. A good movie investment.

Rating:
Summary: Skirting the issue
Review: This is so typical of American film making. Giving the viewer a glimpse into a really horrid world, and then glossing over the subject. Please please if you are the least bit interested in this subject, look at Mandragora instead. I can imagine a teenager looking at this film and thinking its okay to go on the streets, but the reality is so far away.

The acting and film making attributes were extremely good, but skirting the issue makes it a flop. My private Idaho was better, but bite the bullet and get Mandragora.

Rating:
Summary: Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Review: This movie is not nearly as good as L.I.E. The film runs like a bunch of slides which are out of order. Jesse can act, but he seems totally homophobic, even heterophobic at times. He was supposed to give Darryl Hannah an orgasm, but no lips were kissed, no clothes came off, and they both seemed pretty turned off.

He rejects his "best" friend's overt come ons, but still gets alone with him at every opportunity. The music really sucks throughout the movie. There are cast members from "Saved By The Bell" in one scene. There is a totally unnecessary cameo by the fat kid that was in the "Sandlot." He is no longer fat, and normally he acts a lot better too.

To top it all off, the real villian in the movie is a totally miscast Jonathan Taylor Thomas. I think he deserved the "Sandlot" guy's role as a freaky cowboy john with a stun gun.

The movie was 30 minutes too long, with a tacked on ending! There is NO closure in this movie whatsoever. The only real performances came from Darrly Hannah, whom I don't normally like, and the guy who wanted Jesse to be more than a friend.

As many of the reviews show, there are an awful lot of stereotypes. My problem is that this movie reeked of potential, but some people in the movie, namely Bradford and Hannah, held back from the grittier material that is Van Sant's trademark. For all of you who buy this movie based on 5 stars, don't say I didn't warn you. If you want L.I.E., be aware that it involves kids that look much younger and has a very graphic undertone involving child molestors.

Rating:
Summary: Buy only if you are a VERY big fan of Jesse Bradford
Review: This movie is not nearly as good as L.I.E. The film runs like a bunch of slides which are out of order. Jesse can act, but he seems totally homophobic, even heterophobic at times. He was supposed to give Darryl Hannah an orgasm, but no lips were kissed, no clothes came off, and they both seemed pretty turned off.

He rejects his "best" friend's overt come ons, but still gets alone with him at every opportunity. The music really sucks throughout the movie. There are cast members from "Saved By The Bell" in one scene. There is a totally unnecessary cameo by the fat kid that was in the "Sandlot." He is no longer fat, and normally he acts a lot better too.

To top it all off, the real villian in the movie is a totally miscast Jonathan Taylor Thomas. I think he deserved the "Sandlot" guy's role as a freaky cowboy john with a stun gun.

The movie was 30 minutes too long, with a tacked on ending! There is NO closure in this movie whatsoever. The only real performances came from Darrly Hannah, whom I don't normally like, and the guy who wanted Jesse to be more than a friend.

As many of the reviews show, there are an awful lot of stereotypes. My problem is that this movie reeked of potential, but some people in the movie, namely Bradford and Hannah, held back from the grittier material that is Van Sant's trademark. For all of you who buy this movie based on 5 stars, don't say I didn't warn you. If you want L.I.E., be aware that it involves kids that look much younger and has a very graphic undertone involving child molestors.