Speedway Junky

I was expecting something good out of this movie -- it being produced by Gus Van Sant and all, the genius behind two incredible gay films, My Own Private Idaho and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. I wouldn't have seen it otherwise because of the inane plot (kid runs off to become a race car driver in West Virginia, and then decides to become a hussler). Luckily, Gus Van Sant's influence is evident in a few scenes, which makes me think there's a good movie in there somewhere.

At times, Speedway Junky feels like a Gen-Y remake of My Own Private Idaho, and it obviously doesn't do its predeccesor justice. However, the two male leads are far less complex and their relationship is as well. Interestingly, the chemistry between them saves this movie from complete obscurity. Too bad they're surrounded by mind-numbingly cliched supporting characters and crumby, juvenile dialogue ("Steven is bisexual. If you buy him something, he'll have sex with you.")

But, like I said, there's a bit of Van Sant in this film, most notably in the scenes between the two protagonists. If the director (incidently, I don't know who directed it) had focused on this relationship more than the hoky prostitution subplot, we would've had some fine gay cinema on our hands. Too bad.

Also, the influence Midnight Cowboy had on this film is mammoth. In both films, a naive guy with a Southern accent comes to the big city with high hopes, but ends up as a john alongside an unlikely friend, who may or may not be an object of desire. The ending is similar too, but I don't want to ruin it in case anyone actually wants to watch either movie.

All in all, bad movie, but if you look closely, you'll see it could've been great. It sadly doesn't come close to its influences: My Own Private Idaho and Midnight Cowboy.

I suspect you'll only really like this if you saw it back in the day.

It's just a mess. Partly because the story is 99% from Johnny's point of view, then one of the few significant context switches features Eric telling Veronica he's frustrated because he loves Johnny, as if that's not the most obvious part of the film.

Annoying, but minor.

The Johnny/Eric story is the heart of the film and it's a good one.

But there's so many problems here. The movie can't decide if it wants to be edgy and a somewhat realistic view of the lives of young hustlers in Vegas or if it wants to be kindergarten.

Then there's the completely surreal ending starting with JT handing the two a baggie of money and drugs then shows up a week later demanding they return it like they run a safe deposit box-- they live in a motel.

But it gets far more surreal when bullets fly because JT shoots a can of tomato soup off Johnny's head and Eric shows up two seconds later and thinks Johnny has been shot.

It's hard to fathom how off the rails this goes.

I'd been wanting to see this film for a while, and I'm very disappointed now that I have. The first thing I found problematic was the complete lack of a plot in the first half hour. A story really needs to capture people's attention right from the start. This story did not. After that, what plot there was (which we've seen many times before -- and done much better!) was extremely contrived and totally predictable. The writing was stale and overflowing with cliches. And -- granted, though, I don't know any teenage hustlers in Vegas -- I found the characters to be completely unbelieveable. This was due partly to the hokey script but also partly to the miscasting of some of the central characters, especially Erik Alexander Gavica as "J.T." I find it hard to believe that anyone could ever REALLY think he was dangerous until after his voice had changed!

The one thing in this film I WAS pleased with -- and surprisingly so -- was Darryl Hannah's performance. I've never been much of a fan of hers, but I was impressed with her understated performance, especially given the weak material she had to work with and the fact that everyone else was overacting. I usually AM a fan of Jonathan Taylor Thomas, but even he was unfortunately miscast in this film.

"Speedway Junky" was a noble attempt, but didn't quite hit the mark.

For a supposedly bunch of cultured, educated, intelligent, and especially creative folks, gay people seem to make the same movie over and over and over. "Speedway Junky" is old news. Writer/Director Nickolas Perry mixes up "Midnight Cowboy," "Where the Day Takes You," "johns," and an ABC Afterschool Special and comes up with a concoction so bland that you'll find yourself pushing it around on your plate, wondering what to do with it.

The story focuses on a naive county boy runaway (Jesse Bradford) who comes to Las Vegas to strike it rich so that he can become a race car driver. Of course, he is practically robbed, raped and beaten by the time the first reel is over. The film's most nauseating segment concerns a businessman who picks up the young boy for obvious reasons. Of course, Jesse is blind to the whole scenario until it gets real obvious. It's revolting stereotypical crud.

But Jesse is fortunate enough to meet young Jordan Brower, a gay urban hustler who takes him under his wing. Jordan has his sights on Jesse but he's such a sweet young gay hustler that he wouldn't dream of forcing himself on the other boy. They become fast friends when Jesse gets the stuffingkicked out of him and Jordan nurses him back to health, like the good homosexual teenage boy that he is. Of course, Jesse is straight, so Jordan is wasting his time here. Wow - how novel!

Along the way there is much more trash. Jonathan Taylor Thomas plays the king of the strip, a teen hustler who does it all if the price is right. Of course, the biggest draw here is to see the wholesome milk-drinking TV star say "fuck" and talk about taking it up the ass. Whoopie. Thomas does the best he can, but he is relegated to the backdrop of the Jesse/Jordan love story - or rather, the lack thereof of it. Thomas also has to compete against some of the worst acting in the world, brought forth by Daryl Hannah, Tiffany Amber- Thiesen and some unknowns who were unfortunate enough to be cast here. It's a shambles.

If there is any savior of the piece, it is Brower who does his absolute best here to bring his gay teen character to life. He's might be quite good with the right director and costars. The scenes between him and Hannah almost work. A particularly good scene comes when Brower cries in unrequited love while his friend Jesse makes it with Hannah. The scenes are quick cut back and forth but the heterosexual scene doesn't go far enough. We know why Brower is in anguish, he is thinking of Jesse with the older woman. The scene with Jesse and Hannah, however, is so dull, so lackluster, so bland that it doesn't really work. Brower would be thinking of his love interest in bed with the woman, not just him kissing her tenderly. It just doesn't go far enough. It doesn't have enough oomph. It's too darn Hollywood "safe." Too bad Brower works so hard for almost no payoff. That's his problem in the whole movie. He's the only one on screen with any chops.

Perry somehow talked Gus Van Sant into producing this piece of drivel. Hope Gus did it as a tax write-off. Why would he produce a watered-down drab rip-off of his own "My Own Private Idaho?" "Speedway Junky" is pure soap opera. There is no spark here, no joy, no fun and nothing new. Same crud, different film. Perry doesn't even seem to be trying. There is no glimmering in his direction. There is not one interesting shot (does the camera even move?) and definitely no unifying theme or motif or visual sense. Even Las Vegas as a backdrop looks bland. In many ways, it would be more fun to sit in the 4 Queens casino on the strip and drop quarters in the slot machines than to sit through this sorry waste of film. But occassionally you hit a small payoff, and Brower pops up with another good bit of acting in an otherwise barren wasteland of lost, pointless neon.

Personal Notes: Seen on 8/28/99 as part of the Austin Gay and Lesbian Independent Film Festival. The director, an extremely nice man, was in attendance and did a Q&A session. Among other tales was the story of hiring JTT. Another actor had been hired to play the role of Steven but showed up incapacitated . Perry was given 48 hours to find a new teenage "name actor" or the film would be scraped. JTT was on hiatus during the summer from "Home Improvement" and accepted the role after being faxed pages of the script.

Perry did not write the cross cut scene where Bradford and Hannah make love and Brower cries. He had those as separate entities. The editor did this and showed it to Perry who wisely saw it's genius.

Perry said that he thought of Brower's character as a sort of saint but did not consciously act visually on this idea. He said many people see religious imagery in the film. I myself saw a scene where a hubcap in the background was lit so that it became a halo over a scene. Perry said this was not a conscious thing.

Perry said he had written many scripts about L.A. fringe youth but none had sold. He made a short film called "Must Be the Music" (shown at agliff in '96) which Van Sant saw and liked. The director agreed to work with Perry about the time he was coming off the phenomenal "Good Will Hunting" which helped spark interest in his script for "Speedway Junky" and got the ball rolling.

Perry said his next project was that he was hired to write a script about a rock star who fakes his own death after his biggest hit so he can find the girl of his dreams. Uck!

At this time, the film is still seeking a distributor.

Jesse Bradford is a good looking guy (those lips!)& his acting in this film is very good. I'm not a Daryl Hannah fan, but was impressed by her performance here. Jonathan Taylor Thomas is & always will be an annoying little twerp. This story of teen hustling is familiar. It's got everything you'd expect from a movie like this: An old fat pervert, lust, violence, car chase, street life, gay & bi-sexuality, teen angst, unrequited love, booze, death, etc. There's a dance sequence thrown in, but I was embarrassed for all involved, it was awkward, pointless, & goofy.