Racing Dreams is a nice documentary about three kids who race go-carts on the official national go-cart circuit. Karting, as it's known (please let the red-neck jokes at the door), is the first step up the tall ladder to greater racing fame, culminating in IndyCar and NASCAR.
The three kids are Annabeth Barnes, 11 at the time of filming three years ago, Josh Hobson, 12, and Brandon Warren, 13. Each one of them hopes their success on the kart track will lead to further victories down the line. They race in two groups, one for kids 11 and 12 and on for kids 13. This puts Annabeth and Josh in the same division and Brandon on the verge of being too old for the sport and having to either retire or move up to small-sized stock cars.
But first, they all are teens and pre-teens dealing with typical stuff that kids deal with then. Annabeth is a popular girl interested as much in boys and hanging with her friends as she is with racing. Her friends don't get racing or why she would want to do it - and for awhile she sees the life as a civilian girl to be very attractive. Her parents eat and breathe racing and push her along, but she is also passionate about it and loves the attention she gets as a girl in the driver's seat.
Josh is considered the best student in his school (his vice-principal tells us so), but is a bit of a goody-two-shoes dork solely focused on racing. His sweetness is a bit nauseating (he's so fucking middle-American, I sorta want to hit him), but he means well. He seems to have no interest in girls yet. He spends time at home practicing his very well polished victory interview, studying how NASCAR great Jeff Gordon does it. This kid wants to be the next Jeff Gordon, and he looks like he's moving in that direction.
Brandon is another story entirely. He's a bad boy, being raised by his grandparents while his folks are in and out of jail and in and out of his life. He acts out in school and is very interested in girls (even dating Annabeth for awhile). His family has a limited budget, so despite the fun he's having and his clear talent at the sport, he might not be able to continue purely for financial reasons.
The narrative moves along very well, following the five-race season over the Spring of 2007. There is some good built-in drama (director Marshall Curry probably got a bit lucky with that), some romance and some racing excitement. Curry does do a few annoying things, such as using a looped-in announcer over footage of the race to keep us up on where our stars are, but these things do help to tell the story better (even if such a voice over is a bit hokey).
This is a very nice and clean movie - well cut and very polished. It's nice to get a look at kid sports stars in such an intimate, honest way. The focus is not really on their parents, but there is a certain level of "stage parents" pushing their kids too hard that is unavoidable with a work like this. Still, it is clear that the kids are having a great time doing what they love, which is a lot of fun to watch - very fresh and honest.
Stars: 2.5 of 4
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I think it deserves three stars out of four and your review backs me up. Why the docking of half a star? It's a solid, well-made documentary that accomplishes everything you want it to.
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