Thursday, December 18, 2014

Funny Car Summer

Ron Phillips – 1974 – USA

Odd little piece of cheesy nostalgia profiling race driver Jim Dunn on the “funny car” circuit throughout the 1973 season.  Unlike artistic racing films such as Grand Prix (1966) or Pit Stop (1967), this one offers little to film lovers and is mainly of interest to fans of the 70s drag racing scene.  Dunn himself seems a nice enough guy, a firefighter by trade who takes off to race during the summers, but he’s not particularly fascinating.  I’m surprised if he was the most appealing or compelling driver around at that time.  It’s almost like someone who knows him and wanted to promote him made this film.  Aside from being a snapshot of the often disturbingly tasteless styles of hair and clothes in the early 70s, there is some interesting footage of Dunn and other drivers racing, crashing and otherwise discussing or working on their cars.  For a dramatic feature about the same world, check out David Cronenberg’s Fast Company (1979).

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