And that syrupy melodrama DID make me feel closer the characters. When Bradford finally opens up to Brower, that made me both really happy and sad because I know it can never work out that way. Don’t tell me you didn’t buy the whole thing even for just a second! ;)

“When it took a long time for me to actually care about [Johnny and Eric], that’s because I think Bradford’s Johnny is not all that likeable. I simply had trouble understanding why Eric would fall for him. His ‘rebel without a cause’ shtick seemed a little too self-absorbed, and thus Eric’s selflessness also became a source of frustration. However, while never exactly subtle, over the course of the movie the personal bond and tensions between them becomes easier to accept. Where Bradford initially struggles to make Johnny’s vulnerability seem anything other than whiny, Brower’s Eric is far more interesting. (…)

Still, it could be that Speedway Junky requires a certain suspension of disbelief to be truly engaging. Just when it almost had me hooked, it served up an ending so laced with cliches and sentimental predictability that I left it feeling disappointed. As I believe I’ve said before, I’ve got absolutely nothing against sentimentality or tear-jerkery (if that’s a word), so long as it serves to make us feel closer to the characters. Here however, it threathens to undercut what has come before, by making it all seem like preparation for a thinly veiled plea for our tears.”