Sylvester Stallone and Cristian de la Fuente

"Will Over Skill" is the philosophy Tanto tries to teach Bly as they buzz along at triple-digit speeds toward either the victory lane or an Intensive Care Unit. Their ultimate destination depends on the steadiness of their nerves and the voices in their helmets. Loudest among the voices belongs to wheelchair-bound team-owner Carl Henry (Burt "Cannonball Run" Reynolds in the least likeable performance of a career that's had more ups and downs than Liza Minnelli's medicine cabinet). While trying to follow Henry's inscrutable strategies, Bly and Tanto must block out the little voices that would inexplicably guide them toward disaster when all they need do to win is steer through their own fear. Lastly, sometimes the voices are that of their girlfriends and ex-wives (Estella Warren and Gina Gershon) who have for some reason also been given headset microphones. As well meaning as the girls are, they really shouldn't bother the boys while they're driving.

Kip Pardue and Estella Warren

Driven’s racing scenes, compiled from actual race footage and original material filmed at warp speed from an assortment of tracks spanning Rio to Tokyo, are when the movie is at its best. Director Renny Harlin (Deep Blue Sea, Cliffhanger) has earned his place in the winner's circle by filming some of the most intense tire-to-tire action in a genre that has continually pushed the adrenaline envelope. From John Frankenheimer's 1966's Grand Prix (the first flick to feature racecar mounted cameras), to Steve McQueen's turn at the wheel in 1971's Le Mans (which thirty years later is still Hollywood's best day at the races), to 1990's Days of Thunder (with Tom Cruise taking his NASCAR and future wife Nicole Kidman for a few laps around the track), directors and camera crews have outdone themselves to find new and better ways to put their audience in the driver's seat. And Driven is no exception. It sets a new standard against which future racing footage will be judged. The scenes of racing in the rain in Germany, for example, not only cram the viewer into the racing cockpit, but behind the driver's facemask. With visibility near zero at velocities three times the normal speed limit, you have to wonder not only how they do it without crashing, but why. And when the inevitable accidents do happen on Driven’s track, the crash sequences are some of the most spectacular, slow-motion, tail-spinning crash and burns ever filmed. Unbelievably, nearly everyone is wheeled away from their asphalt ballet with little more serious than a bruised ego. This is not the case in real life, as evidenced by the recent tragedy of NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt Sr. dying while trying to block another driver from passing his son in a move that is simulated with relative ease in Driven. Don't try this stuff on the expressway folks, it's murder on your insurance rates.

At its worst, Driven almost seizes its engine with the suds of a soap-opera love triangle between Bly, his circuit rival Beau Brandenburg (Til Schweiger) and Sophia (Estella Warren), the pouty young "distraction" Brandenburg runs over like emotional road kill. When Sophia inexplicably goes back to Beau after taking Bly for a few test spins, Driven totally looses control in a ridiculous scene where the young driver takes out his rage on a joyride through the streets of Detroit in a 1000-horsepower prototype car. It's up to Tanto to chase after him in a similarly overpowered vehicle and though the driving is world class, not even the Golden Gate Bridge could suspend disbelief like this. Further gunking up Driven’s gearbox is Tanto's own love quadrangle with his bitchy, but still smitten, ex-wife Cathy (Gina Gershon), her new Hell-bent hubby, and fellow racer Memo Moreno (likeable Ricky Martin look-alike Cristian de la Fuente). Though Fuente, Schweiger and Warren are unknown to American audiences, their notoriety in Europe and South America should guarantee Driven a winning box office in the world market.

Luckily for those with the need for speed, Driven’s romantic elements are the minimum filler required to connect the top-fuel racing sequences. There's enough high-octane action to rev motor heads to the red line. And the movie is sure to appeal to the kid in anyone who has ever misspent their allowance trying to get a double extended play on Pole Position or any of the new breed of megabit arcade racing games. One final caution flag before show time: non-race aficionados and all but the most diehard Stallone fans are warned they'll likely be Driven to deafening distraction and an early exit by the movie's roaring engines and sputtering plot line. It's a Rocky road, in more ways than one.