43: The Richard Petty Story: A, um "Movie" Review?

You know how when you walk into Target, they have a section called The One Spot, where everything's a dollar? Well, I was checking it out the other day, and browsed the DVD section. Usually its just a bunch of public domain cartoons, but I happened to come across 43: The Richard Petty Story. I'd heard a bit about this movie, but was told it was out of print. At a dollar, I thought, what do I have to lose? Well, I watched it last night, and here's my observations:

--Richard Petty plays himself. That's right, Richard Petty--a man of zero acting experience at the time, is the star of the movie, and its NOT a documentary. It plays like one of those old Arnold Schwarzenegger movies where he's the star, he's in every scene, but he says about twenty lines throughout the movie.

--The race at the beginning of the movie is supposed to be the World 600. However, the track announcer appears to be on loan from Exposition Motor Raceway.

--There's a midget.*

--The movie touches on all of the main events in Richard's early life (his house catching on fire, his father protesting his first win, etc.), but BARELY strings them together with a plot (something about his relationship with his dad, Lee, played by the dad from A Christmas Story). Lots of action, flimsy plot, not funny: Its just like Family Guy!

--Apparently they had vinyl stickers in the 1940's.

--The movie's villain looks like Dale Earnhardt, talks like Dale Earnhardt, and drives like Dale Earnhardt--but brother, he ain't Earnhardt!

--How they included Curtis Turner getting thrown out of Nascar for trying to organize the drivers, but excluded Big Bill France's drivers' meeting with the gun in his jacket is beyond me.


Sadly, this movie still ranks as one of the best Nascar movies of all time. All in all, it past my ironclad motorsports movie test: Its better than Driven.




*So THAT'S where they got the idea to cast Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder.