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Driven Review

By David Kempler

Drive on By

"Driven" is the latest on-screen exploration of the story of automobile icon John DeLorean. It is light years better than Framing John DeLorean, which was released a few months earlier, but it's still not worth watching. This gives you an idea of just how bad "Framing John DeLorean" is.

To quickly recap, John DeLorean was atop the world of automobile manufacturing before striking out on his own with his signature DeLorean car. It was stunning in looks, but a machine that looks nice and doesn't work real well is not a formula for success. Toss in trying to deal large quantities of cocaine and you know how this will play out.

For some utterly unknown reason, this version of DeLorean's saga doesn't focus on DeLorean. Instead, it's primarily about Jim Hoffman (Jason Sudeikis), a drug smuggler turned narc. I happen to be a fan of Sudeikis, but he wisecracks his way through his role, and that ensures that there's little drama here. Not much comedy, either.

Driven.jpg


Hoffman, in order to clean up his drug smuggling criminal record, works with the FBI to try and nab DeLorean in a drug sting. To Hoffman, DeLorean (Lee Pace) is a god. He looks at him as the genius of the car industry and as a great looking and suave gentleman. Pace is pretty believable in the role, so that's a plus.

Really, there's not much else to say. There are a few decent moments, but decent might be a generous word. Pace is okay as DeLorean. Judy Greer is okay as Hoffman's beleaguered wife. But "Driven" never gets into gear.

What did you think?

Movie title Driven
Release year 2019
MPAA Rating R
Our rating
Summary There's a great movie about John DeLorean somewhere in the future. The future isn't here yet.
View all articles by David Kempler
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