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Down and Derby
Down and Derby (released as Racing Ace outside of North America) is a 2005 American comedy film written and directed by Eric Hendershot and starring Greg Germann, Lauren Holly, Adam Hicks, and Pat Morita. The movie was filmed outside St. George, Utah. The film was released to theatres and home video in 2005. Despite poor reviews and poor box office results, the film gained success on home video, giving it a slight cult following. PlotPhil's wife Kim, the den mother of the local Cub Scout pack, gives a pinewood derby kit to each of the Cub Scouts. Although the boys are supposed to make their own cars from the kits, with appropriate adult supervision, the four dads obsessively take over the project, totally excluding the boys. As each man becomes more and more obsessed with building the fastest car, their wives eventually become so annoyed that they leave the house, taking their sons with them. Soon, "Big Jimmy" is the first to break secrecy to talk to Blaine, and the two of them then talk to Phil, showing him on the title page of the Pinewood Derby Bible that Ace Montana is the author. Not only that, but the car Ace built as an eight-year-old boy in California still holds the record for the fastest pinewood derby car on record. The three men decide to collaborate to build one car that will beat.[clarification needed] To this end, they steal Ace's record holding car to reverse-engineer it, finding out that Ace's real name is Stacy Lynn, but are nearly caught in the act of returning it. The three men then succeed in building a fast car that will break the record, and Blaine and Jimmy decide that Phil should have the honor of having his son enter the car in the competition. At the Derby, the men and their wives are re-united. Kim tells Phil that their son Brady (Adam Hicks) has built his own car while staying with his grandfather, with advice from grandpa's neighbor, and she challenges him to "do the right thing". After some soul-searching, Phil passes up the car the three men built, and allows Brady to register his car for the race – but "Big Jimmy" still wants to beat Ace, and takes the car for his son to enter. After several races, the competition comes down to five finalists, including Ace's, Brady's, and the car the three men built. In the final race their car is leading the pack but loses a wheel. Ace's car then takes the lead, but on the flat part of the track, Brady's car takes the lead and finishes first, setting a new pinewood derby record. Ace is shocked, but makes a gesture of congratulating the Davises; still, the minute he leaves the room, he throws a temper tantrum. When Phil asks Brady who grandpa's neighbor was who gave him advice, Brady points out a man in the audience, who turns out to be the man in the instructional video Phil has been watching to help design his car. Cast
The creator of the pinewood derby, Don Murphy,[2] makes a cameo appearance in the film. ReceptionBox officeThe film was not a box office success. It only grossed $14,688,349 in worldwide box office receipts, including $11,003,454 at U.S. theaters. Critical receptionThe review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 27 critics and assessed 6 as positive and 21 as negative for a 22 percent rating. Among the reviews, it determined an average rating of 4.00 out of 10. The critics consensus reads "Dull, predictable family fare."[3] See also Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pinewood derby. Notes
External links Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: How To Build a Pinewood Derby Car
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