Tuesday's Overlooked Movie: Need For Speed

I barely heard anything about this one when it came out, so I guess that qualifies it as an overlooked movie, overlooked at least by me. It's appropriate that an early scene is set at a drive-in movie theater, because despite being set in the present and based on a video game, in its heart and soul NEED FOR SPEED is a 1950s hot rod movie. You've got a tough but good-hearted protagonist, his colorful crew of sidekicks, a sleazy villain, a bitchin' babe, and a bunch of bitchin' cars, most of which get wrecked before the movie is over. There's an illegal road race the hero has to win to settle a score, but before he can even take part in that, he's got to break his parole (he just got out of prison for a crime he didn't commit, you see) and drive from New York to California in less than 48 hours, while the bad guys try to stop him along the way. Will he make it? What do you think?

Despite its complete predictability, NEED FOR SPEED is great fun. I grinned all the way through it. Watching it made me feel like I was back at the Eagle Drive-In again. If you share similar memories, you'll probably enjoy this one.