Bullet Points: Rolling Vengeance
I love a good stroll down memory lane, so when the opportunity presented itself to revisit 1987’s Rolling Vengeance, I was not going to let it pass me by.
- My Five Sons: Tiny Doyle (Ned Beatty, Captain America) is a businessman in a small Ohio town. Tiny owns a popular watering hole/strip club in town as well as the used car lot that sits adjacent to it. Tiny is also a despicable human being. In all my years of watching Ned Beatty, I can never recall a movie where Beatty was more revolting. Equally revolting are Tiny’s five sons (all from different mothers). Vic Doyle is an alcoholic and is clearly Tiny’s favorite. Vic is also a supreme asshole (just like his daddy) and the catalyst of all the bad things that are about to happen to Joey Rosso’s family and friends.
- Rosso and Son: Joey Rosso (Don Michael Paul, Dangerously Close), is a young man who has decided to follow in the footsteps of his dad, Big Joe Rosso (Lawrence Dane, The Park is Mine) and become a truck driver. Big Joe has gone out and bought a second rig and renamed his trucking company, Joe Rosso and Son. It’s a time for celebration at the Rosso house, until the next day when Joey’s mom and two younger sisters have the misfortune of being on the road at the same time as a drunk driving Vic Doyle and his four jackass half brothers. Vic’s drunken antics causes Kathy Rosso and her daughters to get in a fatal accident. And when the case goes to trial, the court finds the evidence against Vic Doyle to be insufficient and he is fined $300 for the DUI and forced to enlist in a rehab program…. Big Joe is big pissed!
- Tiny’s Place: After the trial, Big Joe decides he needs a beer and he and Joey stop off at Tiny’s Bar and Grill… probably not the wisest decision Big Joe could have made, but obviously the man is not thinking clearly. It isn’t long before the obligatory bar fight breaks out. The Rosso Boys get an assist from fellow trucker, Steve Tyler. But all three are now on Tiny Doyle’s shit list… and the first to feel the wrath is Big Joe who ends up careening off the road after Vic and his brothers throw cinder blocks from an overpass onto Big Joe’s truck. Big Joe ends up in the hospital clinging to life and Joey is about to declare war on the Doyle family, but first he’s gonna need a montage!
- Used Cars: Joey Rosso doesn’t just want vengeance he wants ROLLING VENGEANCE. In the Rosso Family barn, Joey is building a machine of destruction and in order to do that expeditiously a montage is used featuring enough welding to make B.A. Baracus proud and trips to the boneyard to get the various pieces and parts Joey will need. Once Joey’s work of art is complete, he puts the monster truck tires to work with a visit to Doyle’s used car lot where he not only destroys all the cars on the lot but Tiny’s personal Cadillac too. I am sure Tiny Doyle will handle this setback like a civilized adult…
- The War to Settle the Score: Joey Rosso got one over on Tiny, however when the police ask Tiny if he has any enemies, Tiny has nothing to say. Much like Big Joe earlier, this is probably not the wisest decision Tiny could make, but Tiny is no stranger to poor judgment (just look at his hair) and he escalates the war. First he sends two of his boys to go after Steve Tyler, then two more end up raping Joey’s girlfriend Misty (Lisa Howard, Bounty Hunters 2: Hardball)… all four don’t live long enough to regret blindly following their father’s orders. That means Joey only has Tiny, Vic and a sheriff that can only look the other way for so long.
I am about to pay Rolling Vengeance a huge compliment… Rolling Vengeance felt like a Cannon movie. A monster truck driving vigilante would have fit in perfectly with Cannon’s collection of heroes from the mid to late 80s.
Revenge tales are always a fan favorite, especially with a hero you can feel for and a collection of scum bags for the hero to eliminate and the Doyle family were among the scummiest. I really enjoyed the clever way Rolling Vengeance wrapped the story up, giving the audience and Joey the happiest ending possible considering all the horrible things that happened during the course of the film.
I’m about to give this review the happiest ending possible with some Bonus Bullet Points…
- AKA: Rolling Vengeance was released as Monster Truck in Finland, Norway and West Germany.
- Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!: According to an IMDb trivia note, one of the “Rolling Vengeance” trucks built by Mike Welch for the movie survived filming and got a second career on the Monster Truck circuit. Welch replaced the cab with a Peterbilt and named the truck “Super Pete”.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Ned Beatty throw mashed potatoes at people, then Rolling Vengeance is the movie for you. I still can’t believe the same Ned Beatty I liked so much in Superman and Back to School, was so unlikable in Rolling Vengeance.
- Favorite Quote: “Vic, someday someone’s going to punch you in the mouth and put an end to your sex life.” – Big Joe Rosso
