Corazón sobre ruedas

This is one of those rare performances in which you fall in love with the actress. Bonnie Bedelia was apparently nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actress for her performance as Shirley Muldowney - she should have won an Oscar.

Whether or not you care anything about drag racing - I don't - this is just as much a movie about an unusual, sweet but driven, woman through two decades. It's really tops.

The only criticism I have is that the movie lets the character off rather lightly for abandoning her husband and child after a fight over whether she should be gone from home throughout the year. The truth is that it must be terribly difficult for someone not in the industry to keep a marriage going - including parenthood of a 12 year old - with someone who wants to be gone throughout the year and throughout the country. At one point, Beau Bridges accuses her of abandoning her husband due to ambition - and I suspect there may be more in the accusation than the movie allows the viewer to believe (since Beau Bridges at that point is behaving pretty awfully).

Still, Bonnie Bedelia is so charming, sweet, pretty, winning in every way - that the viewer does nothing but cheer her success.

This is very enjoyable.

This film is a great representation of the true story of Shirley Cha Cha Muldowney. Drag racing enthusiasts will love it for the cars and it's true story and general film lovers will like it for it's story about the first female racer to break into this male dominated sport. Not only did she do that but she dominated it in the late seventies and early eighties. I first saw this film at the age of 11 at a custom car show in Leeds, England and it was a real eye opener to the sport.

The last thing that interests me is auto racing, so when this popped up on the TV channel I was watching, I figured I'd turn it off as soon as I was sure the opening credits promised nothing intriguing. I was drawn into the movie immediately, though, and it held me all the way through. I still don't care about auto racing, but... shh... the movie is really about people.

This a pretty interesting based-on-a-true life-story of hot-rod racer Shirley Muldowney. Bonnie Bedalia plays the woman who was a pioneer of her sorts, becoming the first female star in the sport. Whether her life was one big soap opera, I don't know, but the movie concentrates on that sort of thing....with a feminist bias, of course.

I didn't mid the latter because she had to fight a lot of obstacles to become the first female star of drag racing. However, the constant arguments with her husband (a very profane Leo Rossi) and then with crew chief-former lover Connie Kallitta (Beau Bridges) wore thin after awhile. This was just before the PG-13 rating was put into effect, so it's rated PG which is ludicrous with all the profanity.

One very, very memorable scene in here: Muldowney on fire, stumbling down the racetrack after her car caught on fire. That was horrifying and a scene I've never forgotten, and I first saw this almost 20 years ago. Other that that, it's a so-so story and better than so-so if you don't let the language bother you.

This was another HBO-fodder summer movie that I would catch either after school or on the weekend. I don't remember too much about it other than it was exceptionally well shot, had some A-list talent in the cast, and it reminded me of my time at the local raceway.

It's a bit of a slow movie, some drama that may or may not have taken liberty with Shirley Muldowney's real story, and overall a bit of a sleeper of a film. I don't recall it getting a lot of promotion on TV before it hit cable, and to be honest I don't recall it ever playing in the local theatres. But it was a decent enough movie to see once or twice.

The 60s and 70s was a time when the women's movement was trying to re-assert female participation in what had become largely a male only world. The film shows some of the sexist barriers she faced, and her interpersonal struggles with her own crew and competition.

I can't say I was a big drag racing fan, and I didn't know too much about her until I saw the movie. The film helped bring her to the fore front for a brief amount of time to non-drag racers (though you did hear about her on occasion on the radio).

The film itself has that mid-range budget feel. It's a bit raw, but still has a good professional gloss to it.

Check it out.