Movie Title: Drive Hard
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith
Writer: Brigitte Jean Allen and Brian Trenchard-Smith (based on a screenplay by Chad Law and Evan Law)
Starring: John Cusack, Thomas Jane, Zoe Ventoura, Christopher Morris, Yesse Spence, Jerome Ehlers, Carol Burns, Robert Newman, Christopher Sommers, Andrew Buchanan, Damien Garvey, Jason Wilder
Review: It's time to put the pedal to the metal when a former race car driver turned driving instructor (Thomas Jane) is abducted by a mysterious man (John Cusack) and forced to be his getaway driver after a bank robbery. Then our two unlikely fugitives hit the road and try to outrun the police and the mob while trying not to kill each other in the process. In times like these it's best to Drive Hard.
Oh, I wanted to like this movie so much, but sadly I was disappointed and bored. I'm a fan of both John Cusack and Thomas Jane, so when I heard about this movie I was excited. It does start out great! Thomas Jane plays former famous race car driver Peter Roberts who is now retired and has taken his skill-set to become a driving instructor. He's funny and Jane has fun with the role. Then Cusack's odd Simon Keller shows up all jazzed to take his driving exam. He's really hamming it up, too. When our two leads meet and start to banter I was all in. They're both charming and funny, but once to "plot" kicks in, about 25 minutes into the run-time, not much happens afterwards. And the bank robbery is sloppily done and you're not really sure what's happening. Come on movie! You got a bank robbery and a racer car driver at the wheel of the getaway driver and all you did was you bored me. I want to speak to your manager!
So these two very talented actors just argue, get into odd situations, and drive around for another hour or so. It was like going on a road trip with my parents, but with gunfire and a car traveling above 50mph. So much potential to squander here.
When the movie was over I started to think about events that took place during its run-time and I couldn't remember much of anything. Drive Hard is such a forgettable movie with two very entertaining actors trying their best with material that was ultimately out of gas. I would rather go to traffic school than sit through his high-octane bore-fest. This movie never gets out of first gear. It was like someone put a boot on the screenplay or maybe it needed a tuneup. Okay, I'm done with my puns.
Fun Fact: Gold Coast to Canungra is only a 40 minute drive and many of the places stopped along the way would not be passed on this trip.