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‘Down and Derby’ finishes somewhere in the middle
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“Down and Derby,” which opens nationwide April 15, is the newest in the line of family comedies. “Derby” takes place somewhere in suburban America where the biggest problem families face is controlling the child within the father. Needless to say ,this is a safe movie where families can enjoy comfortable entertainment. The story centers on an upcoming pinewood derby.
Those familiar with the Boy Scouts of America should know what the Derby is all about, but for those not too familiar, the Pinewood Derby was started in 1953 in Manhattan Beach, Calif. The cars raced are built from a simple block of pine, four nails acting as axels, and four black plastic wheels. Regulation size and weight are for each car to weigh no more than five ounces and be no longer than seven inches. Since its inception, more than 100 million pinewood derby cars have been raced, making it one of the most anticipated events of a young scout’s life.
Enter the movie written and directed by Eric Hendershot. Greg Germann (Richard Fish from “Ally McBeal”) plays Phil Davis, a man with a severe case of envy. As a young boy, he ruled every event until Ace Montana moved into town and took the leading role as number one at everything he touched. Twenty-five years later the story hasn’t changed, but now Davis and Montana are neighbors and both are happily married with children.
Introducing the pinewood derby is Davis’ wife, Kim, who happens to be a scoutmaster, played by Lauren Holly (“Dumb and Dumber” and TV’s “Picket Fences”). As the story unfolds, the Derby becomes Davis’ chance to finally beat Montana. The kids step aside as the men in the story become obsessed with creating the perfect car.
The story is funny. After all, I have had my run-ins with the derby as a child. Just a few weeks ago, one of my roommates became obsessed with making his own pinewood derby car, which by the way turned out to look a lot like the BMW from the movie “The Transporter.” He has since invented a shrinking machine and drives his little pinewood car around the apartment.
This movie tries too hard, and as a result, it’s too far-fetched to be considered funny through most of its 98 minutes. During almost the entire first half, as a couple of roommates and I watched, no one made a sound, and secretly I was embarrassed to have brought the film into their lives. There was no laughing. And there was supposed to be laughing. The director intended us to be laughing.
Personally, I’m a fan of Lauren Holly and Greg Germann, and the comedian Ross Brockley who plays the best friend of Davis is hilarious. I love the guy – I’m sure we’ll be seeing him a lot more. And to top it all off, Pat Morita shows up; it’s like having Mr. Miyagi in a movie about pinewood derby-obsessed dads. (Oh wait, that’s exactly what this is).
Nevertheless, I can’t recommend this movie to you, unless that is, you have a kid who has raced in or knows of the pinewood derby. When the credits were rolling (and we were pretty happy they finally were), we did laugh more than once, and we did like Ross Brockley. (Seriously, I love this guy.)
The movie is worthy of the PG rating and the message is a good one: Don’t let your over-competitive dad take over a project that is meant for both of you. And always put Pat Morita in a movie about little pine cars.
Joe Firmage
Culture Writer
