3: The Dale Earnhardt Story

I am sure this was a good movie for those who knew who Dale Earhart was BEFORE he died. For the rest of us, it is just OK.

The movie stars Barry Pepper as Dale Earnhart. Pepper has done some good work before (The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, The Green Mile), and puts forth an excellent performance here.

J.K. Simmons (The Closer, Law & Order) was also very good as Ralph Earnhart, Dale's father.

As I said, if you are into NASCAR, then you will enjoy this movie. Of course, if you are a rabid NASCAR and Dale Earnhart fan, then I doubt that 88 minutes will satisfy you.

Just finished watching this movie and I thought it was very well done. Barry Pepper was probably the the best actor for this movie, he pulled off the look perfectly. This movie did a great job of retelling Dale Earnhardt's life story. They also did a great job of mixing old race footage into this movies footage. Some things I didn't like, I thought the story was a little rushed, and some of the important events were left out. The racing wasn't as intense as that in Days of Thunder, but the story made up for it. If you don't know why they called this guy the best in Nascar you better watch this movie, great movie I give it a 7/10.

I sat and watched "3 The Dale Earnhardt Story" the other day. I thought the acting was very well done. Barry Pepper was very believable as "THE INTIMIDATOR" although slightly slimmer than Dale. I thought the movie could have gone into a lot more detail on the life on and off the track of an American icon. I have been a NASCAR fan for as long as I can remember, and have always hoped for a movie about the life of Dale. unfortunately my wish came true(kind of) this is not the movie I had hoped for. I understand the writers and producers got into as much detail as they could in a two hour movie. so so so much was left out though. Not sure when the law came about that a movie was only allowed to be two hours long. The movie never really touched on the incredible business person that Theressa Earnhardt is and how much she had helped turn Dales name into an empire. Never did it touch on the creation of D.E.I. or dales other many ventures off the track. Probably the thing i missed most of all was Dales reactions to seeing Dale Jr.s first wins. Even to racing w/ Jr. and Kerry for the first time. I must say though I was pretty interested in the movie till the sequence when Niel Bonnett was killed. Niel was Dale's best friend, and they never really touched on how his death had effected him. I was really disappointed when Niel had died in the movie. then they went to a commercial break. When the movie came back on we jump ahead what six years to Dale winning the Daytona 500 in 98.Then from 98 to his death in 2001 all in the matter of what ten minutes. I think this movie would have been a lot better if they would have taken the time to fit the important stuff in it. The movie did showcase the fact that dale was human and wasn't the super hero everyone thought of him. Although it briefly touched on his first two marriages it never said why or how those marriages ended. Whitch left me a lil confused. so hopefully someday some one writer out there will sit down and write a script about Dales life that is truly a movie that will be worthy of the Earnhardt name and legacy. Because for me although "3 The Dale Earnhardt Story" did have a few bright spots, I don't think it was worthy of bearing the name of Dale Earnhardt. I somehow think that if Dale were alive he'd be very disappointed in this movie too. I give this movie a 5/10 but only because of the acting.

Several years ago ESPN made a decision that they were going to expand their vision and focus to include original entertainment programming. This has led to a slew of made-for-TV films, dramatic mini-series, and specials about fictional or historical sports personalities and events. Although the acronym ESPN has always stood for Entertainment Sports Programming Network, ESPN never had the desire, budget, or ability to produce this type of original entertainment. Just like MTV has become less about music videos and more about reality TV, dramas, soap operas, and animated series, ESPN seems to be headed down the same wrong path. That's why when I saw the trailers for '3' the last couple weeks, I figured it would be poorly done and over-dramatized just like every other original project ESPN has touched. Surprisingly, that wasn't the case. Barry Pepper, who has been good in everything else I've seen him in, puts on a good performance this time too. I've never been a fan of auto sports, or Dale Earnhardt for that matter, but I was entertained by this movie every bit of the way.

Being a die-hard NASCAR fan you have to look at this movie with a different eye than the general public. For example, the movie should have been longer. With "3" being only 90 minutes long they skipped some very critical points in Dale Earnhardt's life. Such as the creation of his company/team DEI, Dale Earnhardt Inc. Or the refusal to go to Adam Petty's funeral when he was killed in a stock car during a practice run. Adam was one of his son's best friends and because Dale Sr. did not attend, Dale Jr. did not go. How about his rival with Jeff Gordon? Or even his son's first Winston Cup win at Texas or his son winning 2 back-to-back Busch Championships. When Dale Jr. set history and won the Winston in his Rookie year as the first Rookie to win. That was an important day for the Earnhardt family. Not to take away from the movie but I do believe that Barry Pepper did a great job at Dale Earnhardt. The story was good and it showed some of the hard times he went through to get to the Winston Cup. For that reason I give this Film a rating of 8/10.