Roadracers is an underrated and hugely enjoyable film. The plot is, of course, not very original (though this could be due to it being a remake of a drive-in classic?? :) ), but I feel that this general plot is hiding the deeper sub-plots of the film. There is Salma Hayek's portrayal of Donna, Hispanic and adopted by 'white' parents. It's rather disappointing that director Rodriguez that he fails to bring Donna's enigmatic family history to the forefront, and we are left wondering why this was even included in the film if it was never going to be solved. The cruelty of authority is (as always) revealed by redneck thug, 'Sarge' who shamelessly will try anything to get rebel Doody out of his town. Primarily, Roadracers is entertaining, and there are countless scenes that are hilarious. One of my particular favourites is the homo-erotic scene which involves 'Sarge', his lieutenant and a sausage roll. Sarge takes such delight in fondling his sausage roll, claiming that his 'momma makes 'em specially for 'im', and instructs his foolish lieutenent to similarly inspect, molest and finally indulge in his own roll. Sarge takes similar glee in producing the pastries firstly from a pocket in his jacket, and then seemingly from another pocket elsewhere... I was almost expecting him to pull one out from another bodily location... Nixer is delightful as Dood's endearing sidekick, and David Arquette does an excellent job on playing the character of the restless teen (he's also mightily aesthetically pleasing- eye candy if you will.) The soundtrack is also great, as are the characters of Teddy Leather and his cronies (my own names for them? :the Pig and Neanderthal Man- I'm sure people who've seen the film know which one is which!!) I basically think that just because Roadracers is a TV movie, it shouldn't be ignored separately from Rodriguez's more recent films - after all you can see in this film the makings of a great director, and most of his usual trademarks.
