Speedway Junky

Speedway Junky finds young and innocent Jesse Bradford who was raised in a military family running away from California to Charlotte, North Carolina so he can become part of the NASCAR circuit. Jesse makes a detour in Las Vegas and begins an odyssey with an ending that would have astonished him before he entered Sin City.

Getting ripped off his first night in Vegas, Bradford falls in with a gang of street hustlers led by Jonathan Taylor Thomas of whom one of the members is gay kid Jordan Brower. Bradford does what he has to do to survive, but not being gay or street wise his heart just ain't in the work.

But Brower's heart is with Bradford, he's crushing out big time on Jesse and sad to say that aspect of the friendship isn't and can't be returned. Or can it?

Bradford and Brower are an appealing pair of young kids just trying to survive. Jonathan Taylor Thomas shows some acting chops that you would not suspect he had as Tim Allen's son. Tiffani Amber-Thiessen another television refugee from Saved By The Bell and 90210 is also on hand as well.

Some make it, some don't survive this film. Speedway Junky is touching story that will break a few hearts, gay or straight.

Midnight Cowboy wannabe about a teen (Jesse Bradford) who runs away to Vegas in order to raise some quick cash in order to live his dream as a race car driver. However, his dreams are shattered upon arrival in Vegas and he quickly becomes friends with a gay hustler (Jordan Brower) and his extended group of friends including a former hooker (Daryl Hannah) and a bisexual hustler (Johnathon Taylor Thomas).

Jesse Bradford's accent comes and goes. He makes a poor choice for a leading man in this film. Jordan Brower on the other hand is perfectly cast. Johnathon Taylor Thomas is sensational and Daryl Hannah makes the most of a small, but important role. The start and end of this film are very weak, but the midsection is compelling and gripping.

Rated R; Violence, Profanity, Sexual Content.

I'd been wanting to see this film for a while, and I'm very disappointed now that I have. The first thing I found problematic was the complete lack of a plot in the first half hour. A story really needs to capture people's attention right from the start. This story did not. After that, what plot there was (which we've seen many times before -- and done much better!) was extremely contrived and totally predictable. The writing was stale and overflowing with cliches. And -- granted, though, I don't know any teenage hustlers in Vegas -- I found the characters to be completely unbelieveable. This was due partly to the hokey script but also partly to the miscasting of some of the central characters, especially Erik Alexander Gavica as "J.T." I find it hard to believe that anyone could ever REALLY think he was dangerous until after his voice had changed!

The one thing in this film I WAS pleased with -- and surprisingly so -- was Darryl Hannah's performance. I've never been much of a fan of hers, but I was impressed with her understated performance, especially given the weak material she had to work with and the fact that everyone else was overacting. I usually AM a fan of Jonathan Taylor Thomas, but even he was unfortunately miscast in this film.

"Speedway Junky" was a noble attempt, but didn't quite hit the mark.

Despite some rough edges and a questionable Hollywood-like ending, this film offers an endearing relationship between two young men, one gay, the other not. Unrequited love raises its ugly head in the underworld of Las Vegas, with hustlers and drug dealers. Our hero wants to become a racer and make enough money to travel to Charlotte, NC. The other young man only wants someone to take care of and be there when times are rough. Their lives mix with a motley bunch of characters, most of whom only want a sexual favor or a drug turn-on. The acting of the two male leads is superb, with Eric as a truly tragic figure. But why did the screenwriter need to contrive the brutal ending? I suppose a film with a rough edge needs a rough edge ending, but once in a while can't the characters win? This film needs to be seen a couple times before final judgment is rendered. I gave it an 8/10, which is much higher than other reviewers, because it delivers a very important human theme that all of us can identify with.

Jesse Bradford is a good looking guy (those lips!)& his acting in this film is very good. I'm not a Daryl Hannah fan, but was impressed by her performance here. Jonathan Taylor Thomas is & always will be an annoying little twerp. This story of teen hustling is familiar. It's got everything you'd expect from a movie like this: An old fat pervert, lust, violence, car chase, street life, gay & bi-sexuality, teen angst, unrequited love, booze, death, etc. There's a dance sequence thrown in, but I was embarrassed for all involved, it was awkward, pointless, & goofy.