Bullet Points: Roadracers
Four years before Jeffrey Lebowski became “The Dude”, David Arquette was driving around town with a drippin’ wet rockabilly haircut and a smokin’ hot dame in the form of Salma Hayek. How did this movie, directed by none other than Robert Rodriguez, escape my notice for all these years? Let’s see if the former World Heavyweight Champion can lay the smackdown in this look at a bunch of 50’s greasers punks.
Synopsis: Cynical look at a 50’s rebellious Rocker who has to confront his future, thugs with knives, and the crooked town sheriff.
- Rockabilly Heaven: If you’ve ever listened to Robert Rodriguez’s band or seen a single one of his movies, you know that he’s a man who appreciates good tunes. Roadracers is the kind of film that rarely has a quiet moment. It’s mostly just some a dude strumming a guitar in the background or some rockin’ sounds playing over most of the movie but the greaser subculture is what this main character and the movie is all about. It’s fitting and sounds awesome!
- Meet Dude: David Arquette plays Dude Delaney. A young greaser whose dad was a deadbeat and left him with some real daddy issues. He’s also a boss guitar player and absolutely obsessed with a local band that plays just right. Dude is also batting way above his average with his girlfriend Donna, played by the always great Salma Hayek. Dude rolls around town day after day, smoking cigarettes, listening to music, and hanging out with John Hawkes. I’d take two out of the three.
- Running from the devil: Good tunes, hot chicks, and a unique story make Roadracers a bit different from anything you’ve watched recently. It’s really about Dude and his demons. He’s got some stuff in his past that is like a ball and chain; weighing him down and keeping in this small town spinning his wheels and going nowhere. We get a few snippets of what it might be that’s keeping him from progressing but sometimes the mystery of his father is better than meeting the man.
- The Sheriff: Dude only has a few things in life that don’t rub him the wrong way. His girl, his friend Nixer, music, and JT’s diner. Most of the other elements of the town and life in general, would be left safely on the side of “things that can get bent”! Sarge (William Sadler) is right in his element as the local law. He’s the father of young Teddy Leather, who has somehow inherited the hatred for Dude that Sarge had for Dude’s dad. Between Sarge and Teddy, it’s no surprise that Dude chain-smokes like a fiend just to calm his nerves.
- Poor Salma: Donna deserves better than Dude. I think that even he knows that. He’s determined to keep her as long as possible but everything in life seems to go against him and while Donna has never second-guessed him, she can only take so much.
- Teddy Leather and his Goons: They try their hardest to be tough but going 3 against 1 is nothing to be proud of. Teddy chases down Dude for the entire movie, going so far as to kiss his girl and scream at her the whole film. Arquette definitely deserved to have his ass kicked for being such an idiot but Teddy and his crew of morons shouldn’t be the ones to do it.
- Twist or Twisted: The final 20 minutes of the movie aren’t what you’ll expect. The film leads into a finish that just might give the viewer a happy ending but not quite. You can clearly see that this is a Robert Rodriguez movie as the credits roll. He has his way with dialogue, cool dudes, and fierce women, but he really finds a way to shock the audience in most movies. This one is no different and I think it makes it that much more memorable than if it had just concluded with the “paint by numbers” ending that most movies give.
The Verdict: Roadracers is nowhere near the movie that I thought it would be. It was entertaining for multiple reasons; plenty of notable actors, great music, dark comedy, and sharply edited scenes. The story never takes itself too seriously and it’s not something that purists of the era would watch without smirking over some of the dialogue but it works for this movie. It was part of an “Action Pack” that I bought years ago and only just now watched. It’s worth checking out for any of the reasons I listed above, and even more so if you are a fan of Robert Rodriguez’s past work. I can’t stop getting the image of an aged David Arquette joining along with Antonio Banderas for one last Mariachi film now!
