Before gadgets became gods, bicycles were holy rollers for kids. Hoping to cash in on the craze, 20 Century Fox financed a film that proved one of the surprise hits of the 70s.
It's the old, rich kids vs poor kids or eclectic kids (The Bad News Bears) or angry kids story, Mike, anyway, one that culminates in a cheesy relay race where you can guess the winners. Pure gorgonzola. Received surprisingly good reviews at release, big receipts ($20M) and awards, a Globe for best picture and Oscar on screenplay (Tesich) in a rather weak field, Alien (1) and Apocolyse Now (2) the only true standouts. B-A's biggest booster was critic Roger Ebert who gave it a review that simply gushed, as he was known to do. But like they say, one man's "treasure" can be another's trash. I recall seeing After School Special's that held my interest better. How one responsible for movies Bullitt (68) Murphys War (71) and the superb mystery-thriller, Suspect (87) (Cher & Quaid) could make this pedestrian picture is not an uncommon conumdrum with good directors. The easy answer: "Nobody's perfect (Brown)." The last straw was having to see "Kelly Leak," one of filmdom's coolest cats, turned into a guy named "Moocher (oy)." The lone bright spot is a memorable quote. Sent flying off track by some dirty European racers, a dejected Dave (Christopher) bemoans to his dad (Dooley), "everybody cheats." Not exactly a shocking revelation, even for a teenager, but one that's good to hear now & then so maybe we actually DO something about it for a change (1.5/4).
It's the old, rich kids vs poor kids or eclectic kids (The Bad News Bears) or angry kids story, Mike, anyway, one that culminates in a cheesy relay race where you can guess the winners. Pure gorgonzola. Received surprisingly good reviews at release, big receipts ($20M) and awards, a Globe for best picture and Oscar on screenplay (Tesich) in a rather weak field, Alien (1) and Apocolyse Now (2) the only true standouts. B-A's biggest booster was critic Roger Ebert who gave it a review that simply gushed, as he was known to do. But like they say, one man's "treasure" can be another's trash. I recall seeing After School Special's that held my interest better. How one responsible for movies Bullitt (68) Murphys War (71) and the superb mystery-thriller, Suspect (87) (Cher & Quaid) could make this pedestrian picture is not an uncommon conumdrum with good directors. The easy answer: "Nobody's perfect (Brown)." The last straw was having to see "Kelly Leak," one of filmdom's coolest cats, turned into a guy named "Moocher (oy)." The lone bright spot is a memorable quote. Sent flying off track by some dirty European racers, a dejected Dave (Christopher) bemoans to his dad (Dooley), "everybody cheats." Not exactly a shocking revelation, even for a teenager, but one that's good to hear now & then so maybe we actually DO something about it for a change (1.5/4).