Where to watch Born to Run
2 1/2 Stars
Richard Grieco plays a “local car racing badass”, who gets in with some bad guys. Races and cars, cars and races. Oh, and there is a girl in the mix, too!
Most people won’t recognize the name Albert Magnoli; he doesn’t get the credit he deserves, but he’s a legitimate visual stylist, and he’s the man behind Prince’s seminal 1984 film Purple Rain and the guilty-please American Anthem. The director works with former teen heartthrob and 21 Jump St. standout Richard Grieco in a drag race flick that owes a lot to James Dean and 1950’s B-movies in general. I don’t mean that as a negative critique, but rather as an endearing aspect of this slightly above-average made-for TV movie.
Grieco does his Grieco thing; it’s not as fresh or appealing as his work in If Looks Could Kill, but he’s a solid leading man and plays the reluctant hero angle well. Beautiful cinematography is the film’s strongest asset, and the camera lovingly lingers on the vintage vehicles involved in the race scenes. The problem is that there are far too few sequences involving the cars and far too many silly scenes focusing on an inane romance between Grieco and Shelli Lether. When the film focuses on the relationship between Grieco and Jay Acovone, as the near-do-well brother, it hums along with the chemistry produced by the two actors. Too much melodrama and too little racing make this an uneven but overall entertaining production from Fox Television Studios.
Directed by: Albert Magnoli
Written by: Randall M. Badat, Frank Bitetto
Starring: Richard Grieco, Jay Acovone, Shelli Lether