The Last American Hero (1973)
For a second I thought I had started Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, another 70s car movie with a young Jeff Bridges driving muscle cars. What we got here was a surprisingly good motorsports drama with some great stock car racing from the 50s. It is a classic zero to hero type of story based on the real story of NASCAR driver Junior Johnson.
Jeff Bridges is just super charming all the way through and all the racing scenes were super well done. Easy to follow the battles and drama on track along with fantastic stock car engine sounds. It is funny to compare it to Grand Prix with all its Formula 1 glamour and historic locations, doesn’t come close to capturing the excitement of motorracing as this movie does with its messy and un-glamorous oval race tracks of the midwest. It is also incredibly funny with a good deal of great one-liners.
It is a bit rough in places with some details being glossed over to develop the story, but everything is there to underline the most important part - that (like in Fast and The Furious) it is all about family in the end.
Rating: 4