Plot
After persuading respected mechanic Harry Hogge (Duvall) to lead the crew of his stock car racing team, owner Tim Daland (Quaid) recruits talented young racer Cole Trickle (Cruise) to drive. Following an explosive start, Cole is involved in a bad crash, and it’s up to Harry, Doctor Claire Lewicki (Kidman) and friendly rival Rowdy Burns (Rooker) to help him regain his confidence…
Review
A blatant product of the Don Simpson-Jerry Bruckheimer school of popcorn moviemaking, Days Of Thunder is quite literally a vehicle for star Tom Cruise and director Tony Scott to repeat their Top Gun success. But while entertaining on a basic, so-predictable-it’s-comforting level, it never feels like anything other than formula (one) filmmaking of the highest order. Despite adhering to Simpson-Bruckheimer recipe, though, it is also an obvious example of the early-career Cruise template, too. There’s Cruise as the hot-headed hotshot who must tame his wild spirit (check), there’s the wise older mentor (Robert Duvall, check), there’s the strong love interest (Nicole Kidman, check), the rival-come-friend (Michael Rooker, check) and so on. But while The Cruiser is engaging as always, the film is so mechanical in its conveyor-belt construction that it rarely proves involving. A few of the racing sequences briefly excite, but on the whole the plotting (can you believe the screenplay was written by Chinatown’s Robert Towne?) is just too cliche-ridden and by-the-numbers.
Verdict
A blatant product of the Don Simpson-Jerry Bruckheimer school of popcorn moviemaking, Days Of Thunder is quite literally a vehicle for star Tom Cruise and director Tony Scott to repeat their Top Gun success. But while entertaining on a basic, so-predictable-it’s-comforting level, it never feels like anything other than formula (one) filmmaking of the highest order.
