Days of Thunder (Film Review)

1990 Paramount Pictures
Directed by: Tony Scott; Written by: Robert Towne
Starring: Tom Cruise, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, Nicole Kidman, and Cary Elwes
MPAA Rating: PG-13; Running Time: 108 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 7/10

Cole Trickle just wants to race cars and win. After he's screwed over by his old manager...who unfortunately is also his father, Cole is looking at starting from square one, until he's discovered by an up-and-coming stock racing team. Cole is new to stock cars, but his pure racing ability is enough to get him on the track. To get to victory, first, he'll have to befriend his crochety crew chief and car builder, Harry, who teaches him how to race stock cars specifically. Then he'll have to win over his teammate, Rowdy. But when tragedy strikes, can Cole overcome his fear, to prove he's more than nothing, and the winner he is in his dreams?
1990's Days of Thunder is a big, cheesy, awesome slice of early 90s sports cinema. Hans Zimmer's big, electric-guitar enhanced score immediately lets viewers know what they are in for, and if that's not what the viewer wants, then go watch something else. Tom Cruise plays the type of vulnerable, heroic character he's staked his career on, cocky, but afraid deep down that he can't measure up, providing fist-pumping moments at the end when he finally does. Robert Duvall provides just the right blend of machismo and fatherly approval to the film as Cruise's crew chief and Michael Rooker is perfect as the competitive teammate brother-figure. Director, Tony Scott, brings that big Tony Scott energy, as Cruise is racing on several tracks in a thrilling montage less than fifteen minutes into the film.
If there's a flaw here, it's that, after that central conflict is introduced (a big car crash which plants doubt in Cruise's heart), the film takes it's foot off the gas just a bit too much. There's a romance for the ladies that is fine, and certainly gets by on Cruise and Nicole Kidman's chemistry, as the two were famously married for a decade. However, the "I don't know if I have what it takes" portion of the film does go on about ten minutes too long and robs the film a bit of its momentum. Thankfully, though, Days of Thunder is eventually back to the tracks against a delightfully cardboard Cary Elwes final act douchebag villain racer who might as well be driving around with a cigar and mustache to twirl,along with the first pumping buckets of victorious cheese the audience paid for. It is called Days of Thunder, after all.