Bonnie Bedelia delivers a fiery, roughly textured, outstanding performance in a rare substantial lead role as Shirley "Cha-Cha" Muldowney, the gutsy, sassy ("The only thing I do fast is drive"), willful, supremely determined and self-sufficient real-life pioneering feminist professional race car driver who had to overcome lots of doubt, discrimination and sexual prejudice during her arduous climb to bona fide race car champion status, winning the much-coveted NHRA Top Fuel World Championship an unprecedented three times in a row.
Directed with customary acuity and facility by Jonathan Kaplan, this sterling sports biopic stands out not so much for what it does but for what it doesn't do. For starters, the film never glorifies its very appealing, but still quite human and fallible heroine, offering instead an evenly balanced, fully rounded, warts-and-all portrait of Muldowney, whose remarkable success on the racetrack is countered by her often shaky and unfulfilling personal life. Shirley's victories come at the cost of her marriage to decent, but insecure automobile mechanic Jack (skillfully etched by Leo Rossi, who manages to create genuine sympathy for a potentially unlikeable character) and thrust her into a tumultuous romantic relationship with arrogant, sexist, philandering rival driver Connie Kalitta (an excellent Beau Bridges). Still, Ken Friedman's astute, daring and forthright script gives Shirley her just due for bravely breaking down restrictive sexual barriers, refusing to buckle under often intimidating odds, and triumphantly besting men in a largely male-dominated sport. Secondly, the film doesn't go overboard with either the racetrack action or evocation of previous decades (Shirley began her professional drag racing career back in the mid 60's and kept on racing into the early 80's), rightly emphasizing a most rewarding and uplifting tale of how sheer iron will and tenacity play a huge role in how successful one is in life.
While Bedelia surely dominates the film with her exceptional characterization, the rest of the cast definitely hold their own: Anthony Edwards as Shirley's proud, caring son, Hoyt Axton as Shirley's supportive country-and-western singer father, Bill McKinney as a cocky drag racing superstar, Dick Miller as an understanding family friend, Paul Bartel as a pompous French TV show chef, Michael Cavanaugh as a jerky NHRA boss, and Jonathan Haze as a smooth racetrack announcer are all uniformly fine. Tak Fujimoto's crisp, elegant, proficient cinematography and Laurence Rosenthal's jaunty score add authentic flavor to the movie's meticulous recreation of past eras and equally minutely detailed depiction of the vibrant, smoky, harshly competitive racetrack milieu. The racing scenes are vivid, thrilling and atmospheric; the wipe-out sequences are shockingly abrupt and harrowing. However, it's the tremendous accomplishments of the extraordinary Shirley Muldowney (she served as creative consultant on this movie) and Bonnie Bedelia's superlative portrayal which make this film a true winner all the way.
Directed with customary acuity and facility by Jonathan Kaplan, this sterling sports biopic stands out not so much for what it does but for what it doesn't do. For starters, the film never glorifies its very appealing, but still quite human and fallible heroine, offering instead an evenly balanced, fully rounded, warts-and-all portrait of Muldowney, whose remarkable success on the racetrack is countered by her often shaky and unfulfilling personal life. Shirley's victories come at the cost of her marriage to decent, but insecure automobile mechanic Jack (skillfully etched by Leo Rossi, who manages to create genuine sympathy for a potentially unlikeable character) and thrust her into a tumultuous romantic relationship with arrogant, sexist, philandering rival driver Connie Kalitta (an excellent Beau Bridges). Still, Ken Friedman's astute, daring and forthright script gives Shirley her just due for bravely breaking down restrictive sexual barriers, refusing to buckle under often intimidating odds, and triumphantly besting men in a largely male-dominated sport. Secondly, the film doesn't go overboard with either the racetrack action or evocation of previous decades (Shirley began her professional drag racing career back in the mid 60's and kept on racing into the early 80's), rightly emphasizing a most rewarding and uplifting tale of how sheer iron will and tenacity play a huge role in how successful one is in life.
While Bedelia surely dominates the film with her exceptional characterization, the rest of the cast definitely hold their own: Anthony Edwards as Shirley's proud, caring son, Hoyt Axton as Shirley's supportive country-and-western singer father, Bill McKinney as a cocky drag racing superstar, Dick Miller as an understanding family friend, Paul Bartel as a pompous French TV show chef, Michael Cavanaugh as a jerky NHRA boss, and Jonathan Haze as a smooth racetrack announcer are all uniformly fine. Tak Fujimoto's crisp, elegant, proficient cinematography and Laurence Rosenthal's jaunty score add authentic flavor to the movie's meticulous recreation of past eras and equally minutely detailed depiction of the vibrant, smoky, harshly competitive racetrack milieu. The racing scenes are vivid, thrilling and atmospheric; the wipe-out sequences are shockingly abrupt and harrowing. However, it's the tremendous accomplishments of the extraordinary Shirley Muldowney (she served as creative consultant on this movie) and Bonnie Bedelia's superlative portrayal which make this film a true winner all the way.