The Rahals review Speed Racer movie
Graham: The movie revolves around a family of racers, so obviously that struck a chord given my background. Speed decides to stick with his family's team as is the case here in the IndyCar Series with Marco Andretti [who races for his father Michael's team]. But I'm doing just the opposite. Dad always told me to do my own thing, carve my own path. I get asked every day why I don't drive for my father's team, but right now, driving for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing is the best thing for us.
Bobby: Graham says it was his destiny to be a race driver but I never pushed him into it. Just like the main character in Speed Racer, from the moment he was a kid Graham loved cars and racing. He even watched videotapes of old races with me just like the father-son in the movie.
Graham: Well, I certainly never watched Speed Racer, and maybe that's why I was so bored with the movie because I couldn't follow the plot. Of course, I understood the family story line and the Racer X stuff and all that, but the rest of it? What a mess.
Bobby: I suspect you would have to be a religious Speed Racer fan to make much sense of it, but even still, this is a movie that I imagine mostly kids will enjoy, not their parents who grew up on the cartoon. The kids might like the racing scenes. Personally, the computer animation graphics assaulted my senses.
Graham: I hoped the racing was going to be more realistic, but there was nothing realistic about it. Well, I shouldn't say that. When Speed won the race and downed the milk, that's what drivers do after winning the Indy 500. So that was cool, and I hope to be doing that someday.
Bobby: Kids may like the fantasy element, but I felt it was over the top.
Graham: And when they weren't racing, the dialogue was dull and cheesy. I was drawn into the racing scenes, but they got repetitive. I could hardly sit through the movie. I felt every minute of the two hours.
Bobby: Only highlight for me was that there was nothing about NASCAR in it.