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Driven might have set the record for having the dullest trailer even though it has more car crashes than fingers I can count them with. Released over the last week of April (a time usually reserved for studio burn-off films before the big guns of summer come out), Driven snagged the top spot with only a $12.2 million opening weekend. While not too terrible for a car racing film, with a budget of $94 million, Warner Bros was lucky to have released gigantic franchise starters Harry Potter and Ocean’s 11 (and subsidiary New Line’s The Lord of the Rings) that winter after a very lackluster year. However, the attention was diverted from Driven by New Line’s $90 million Warren Beatty/Diane Keaton fiasco Town & Country which opened six spots down at barely $3M. Yikes!

Collapsing in half during its second lap, Driven had the benefit of strong summer weekdays to spin its wheels to a $32.7 million total ($46.3 million adjusted). With little help from overseas venues ($22 million), Driven continued Stallone’s losing streak. Looking like his career was heading into Jean-Claude Van Damme/Steven Seagal territory, it wasn’t until 2006 when he started brushing off old character favorites like Rocky and Rambo to reinvigorate his place in pop and film culture.

One of many problems with Driven is that while Stallone and Reynolds are supposed to act like mentors, they end up stealing the show. Obviously better actors than the young cast, it was like a nervous studio executive pressured the director to incorporate more footage of the older generation, giving the plot an uneven and pointless tone. Why focus on Stallone joking with Reynolds while the main action has nothing to do with them at all?

Driven’s cast reads off like a list of people who seemingly fell off the face of the Earth. Kip Pardue as the ingénue racer is utterly unconvincing that he can be a professional drive let alone have his Cinderella license. With parts in Remember the Titans and The Rules of Attraction, Pardue’s career went south as quickly as it started. His current credit on IMDb is the straight-to-DVD Hostel: Part III. Canadian hottie Estella Warren, who is very convincing as...well, a model, had some success after Driven, landing the lead female role in Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes and then... Kangaroo Jack. Shooting her career in the foot for a second time, after that, Estella was not seen on the big screen again. Til Schweiger, trying to break into American theaters after being a huge star in Germany, playing the laughable villain, also didn’t get any traction from the role. Likewise, Chilean Cristian de la Fuente, who has TV gigs here and there, found no traction with American audiences (although I might be wrong about his “star” status after being cast on Dancing with the Stars six seasons ago).

I greatly enjoy most Renny Harlin films. Deep Blue Sea is one of the better creature features out there and Die Hard 2 is just awesome to begin with. However, I was recently shown Harlin’s action flick The Long Kiss Goodnight and it has made me an instant, enduring fan of his. Think of it as a female Jason Bourne film without the reality and more zingers (if you are reading this column, by the time you are finished, you MUST add this movie to your Netflix queue, you won’t regret it. Or better yet, buy it, for the multiple times you will re-watch it). If I have learned anything, it is that Harlin can direct any action sequence. And while the racing scenes are very jokey, quite a few are gripping and get your adrenaline pumping. The panoramic racer-vision is a unique idea (although shoddily executed) and the sweeping aerial shots add an exciting perspective. What I liked most about Harlin’s direction is that you can actually tell who is in what place during the race – not seeing just a bunch of blurry cars speed by. This made me more invested in the prolonged action sequences that surprisingly, rarely looked the same.

Coming off of the massive box office flops Cutthroat Island and The Long Kiss Goodnight (it shocks me that this film didn’t catch on) Harlin got redeemed by Hollywood with the profitable Deep Blue Sea. Unfortunately, the money-loser Driven seemed to be the final nail in the coffin for his mainstream career with his most recent movies being dumped completely (Mindhunters, 12 Rounds) or going straight-to-DVD (Cleaner).

With a more than able veteran cast and crew Driven ends up sputtering right out of the gate. Overly long at 116 minutes and with uneven tones, Driven has a loud roving engine, but is never shifted out of first gear.

Verdict: Not with us
3 out of 10

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