Drive Hard (2014) Reviews

• I hope Mr Cusack received a large cheque...

  rurquhart-22014-05-30

  ..I really do. This is nothing more than a poorly conceived and executed advertisement for the Queensland Gold Coast hinterland. The kind of movie where the action (such as it is) limps from one rube-magnet tourist trap to the next, with the camera dwelling jarringly on the signage at each new location along the way. I can't think of a single reason to recommend this film - but plenty to recommend against it. Fans of Mr Cusack or Mr Jane will descend quickly from confusion, to dismay, to disgust as they realise the dross the two have allowed themselves to be party to. The endless succession of car chases is unimaginative and unmoving. The performances so lifeless the cast may as well have been reciting directly from the page. The most interesting thing about this movie is its utter, utter, utter absence of wit, style or inspiration. It will leave you genuinely searching, grasping, for reasons why a group of adults with money would possibly choose to produce something like this - something so inanely artless. My god, if you're going to take the effort to get out of bed and point a camera at something, why (how!) would you not come up with something more satisfying - something more worthy of being put before a paying audience? I really need to take a shower. This was not just forgettable - it was depressing. Beyond pointless.

• Horrible!

  casinoslotguy2014-05-31

  Has John Cusack jumped the shark? is this the best movie he can get into now? Same for Thomas Jane...The movie is a cheap version of "Getaway". The budget on this film was 12m which is probably why the movie was so AWFUL I think this was John Cusack and Thomas Jane helping a grade school student with a class project. The editing is terrible, you can clearing see shots where John or Thomas is sitting in the car on the reverse side then it switches back. You can also, clearly see the stunt drivers face multiple times throughout the movie. And the acting, i don't even want to think about that...no words can explain what that was they were doing, because it wasn't acting..

• Where did the $12 million go?

  jairbryant2014-06-01

  (Slight spoiler alert) There are too many flaws in this movie to list. But I'll try: As you can see there are flaws, to me they are big flaws. There may be some errors in my findings but none as bad as this movie. There are more holes in the story but too insignificant for me to be bothered listing them. It surprised me that Drive Hard made it past the revision board. It is hard to believe that this movie had a $12 million budget. All in all, this movie is not worth watching and I do not like it. Great theory but the execution was terrible.

• What a piece of crap

  edriscoll092014-05-31

  Well this movie really did have potential to be great. Great location, nice back story, cool cars... but no no no no. Let's start with the back story. A racer who is seen kissing a girl, then he's in bed with a house, wife, kid and a shitty job. How the hell did he get there? No character development at all. Jane's life just kind of comes out of nowhere. Enter John Cusack who plays a criminal. Again no back story yadada. Insert 10 second bank robbery where Cusack knows the code to the safe???? Now we get to the action scenes where Jane is driving the car at a dangerously fast 25mph on city streets. Talk about excitement! Anyway as the movie progresses the cars get better but the acting gets worse. Cusack role could have been played by a high functioning autistic teenager and Jane's part could have been played by a dog. Would have made for a better movie. Throw in some terrible chase scenes, horrible fighting and cheesy shootouts and you've got yourself a movie.

• An enjoyable mix of action and laughs

  Tweekums2017-11-30

  Peter Roberts is an American, former race car driver who is now working as a driving instructor in Australia's Gold Coast where he lives with his wife and daughter. His life is about to be turned upside down when fellow American Simon Keller turns up to take a lesson. Keller asks to stop at the bank on the way back to get money to pay for the lesson… Roberts is shocked when Keller runs back while being shot at; he has robbed the bank! It turns out it isn't an ordinary bank; he has taken nine million dollars in bearer bonds that were part of a money laundering scheme. Senior local police are in the pocket of the crooks and call off the police chase so soon Roberts and Keller find themselves being shot at by mercenaries armed with automatic weapons. They manage to switch cars and get away… although in Roberts's case he is only sticking with Keller because he is being threatened. As they travel north they run into various dangers before ultimately having to confront the villains who want their bonds back. When I started watching this film I knew nothing about it but assumed it would be an action packed film full of car chases and explosions; while it does include both it is much a comedy as an action film. It starts fairly well; Keller's driving lesson was amusing and the following chase is fairly exciting. Roberts and Keller are fun characters even if the latter is a criminal he is somewhat sympathetic as the people he stole from are worse. They have a decent chemistry that develops over the course of the film… one can't expect real chemistry given the hostage/kidnapper relationship. Thomas Jane and John Cusack are solid in these roles. There are plenty of good laughs although some are rather dark… a man who tries to stop them accidentally shoots himself with very messy results! The subplot involving the corrupt police is somewhat superfluous; our protagonists don't even know corrupt cops are involved let alone meet them. Overall this might not be a classic but it is rather fun and the Australia setting makes a refreshing change from the US or Europe.