Touches You

Pretty Good

Great Film overall

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I knew nothing about the real life race car driver Wendell Scott before watching this film, so I was really interested to see what this movie would teach me about him. After watching it, I have to say the movie is very uneven. On the positive side, the movie does give the audience a good taste of the various struggles Scott must have gone through with his ambition to be the first black race car driver - we see racism both casual and more intense. As Scott, Richard Pryor does at first seem a little uneasy in a role that's more serious and less comic than usual, but he eventually finds his groove and for the rest of the movie delivers a pretty good performance, from showing joy to showing frustration. On the other hand, the movie sometimes seems aimed at a more yahoo crowd than one that would more appreciate a dead serious examination of the legend, such as the treatment of Scott's time in the moonshine trade (plenty of yuk yuk comedy and car chases.) The screenplay also awkwardly and suddenly jumps ahead in time a number of years a few times, which leads to some unanswered questions. Supporting characters, such as those played by Pam Grier and Beau Bridges, don't get that much to do.Despite flaws such as those, the movie is worth a look. While uneven, it's never a slog to sit through. And though you can tell Scott's real story was in many ways a lot different than what this movie claims, as I said it does give you a good taste of some of what Scott went through.

If you're a race fan, you may not have heard of Wendell Scott. He was one of the most under rated race car drivers of all time, and for all of the wrong reasons. It really makes a person wonder how great he might have been if someone looked beyond the color of his skin.This movie captures that struggle Wendell must of felt. This movie also shows what a great actor Richard Pryor really could have been if he was cast in more serious rolls, instead of just comedies. Sure there there was some humor in this movie, but nothing like his later movies. Richard and Clevon Little played well off of each other. Maybe this is why this movie is all but forgotten about because this movie is somewhat out of character for Richard. Sure, it is not completely an accurate account of Wendell's life, but it is one best movies Richard Pryor ever made.So if you see it, don't expect a scream fest. But may I suggest that you see it just to see what a great actor, not comedian Richard Pryor was.

Richard Pryor shows his versatility, in this story of a black moonshine runner who forces his way into the white-dominated professional racing circuit. I'm not sure how historically accurate it is, but the film drew me into the story, right off the bat. When they establish Pryor's character as a WWII veteran, that automatically buys some sympathy, and it's not hard to guess how hard it would have been for a black man to make his mark in the white-dominated south, let alone the white-ultra-dominated auto racing field. This particular aspect of racing, I think, still shows today in the incredibly-low percentage of black drivers in the major leagues of auto racing. I know it's not because African-Americans can't build or drive cars - I believe it's still because of the redneck image of pro stock-car racing.Anyway, off my soapbox. This is a great movie. Pryor is very believable and turns in a fine performance as the protagonist. It's also great to see how the small local drivers started to build up the sport into the massive, ugly organization that is is, today. The film also kept my interest by showing the NASCAR races, year after year, showing their evolution and devolution.I thoroughly enjoyed this film, front to back - of course, I'm kind of tilted towards car films. But the way the actors played out their characters in this film made them very human. I recommend this to any open-minded NASCAR fan. This'll show you where it came from.

A little different sort of comedy for Pryor; not as raucous and vulgar. In fact, the last half was more of a drama than a comedy. Pretty much run of the mill biography of some racer I've never heard of; lots of fun car racing scenes - many of them the real thing. When the film ended I had to wonder if every southern racecar driver is a redneck racist idiot or if the picture overdid it just a tad.