Customer Reviews

Down and Derby

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A must see for boy scouts and their fathers. Very funny for the whole family.

Fun for the whole family, especially if there's a scouter on board! I thought it was going to be cheesy/second rate...but it's not! This is a quality built movie with a great cast and could easily have been a theater hit. All kids will enjoy this, not just for scouters! Zoom this baby right in to your cart, it's worth it! (We obtained a copy from the district for "Movie Night" with our cubs and it was a huge hit!)

Since I'm familiar with the Boy Scout subculture of adult volunteers being more enthusiastic than their own boys in scouting, I found many of the jokes right on target. It is a strange subculture too for anyone who is not a part of it or is new to scouting.

While it played on only three screens in metro Atlanta during its run, and didn't even gross a million dollars nationally, I knew it was a direct-to-DVD type of film and didn't expect it to amount to much. However, I found the film to be much funnier than expected. It is essentially a situational comedy that you find in 30 minute installments on network television, but in a movie length 90 minutes. The actors and plot are sitcom-esque, which isn't bad and actually quite entertaining. I laughed more than I expected to and the story went in a direction I didn't expect.

Basically, the plot is that one man feels inadequate ever since childhood when a newcomer displaced him from winning all childhood contests. The competition continues into adulthood when inexplicably, the three friends and the interloper all live on the same cul-de-sac. When their sons receive pinewood derby kits, the dads all have plans of their own to win once and for all. Comedic farce ensues. If you can stand sitcom-type humor, this movie will delightfully entertain you and it is the kind of film parents can watch with their children without embarrassing profanity or sex scenes. The only misadvertisement I saw in this film is that Pat "Miyagi" Morita is given a bigger billing than his cameo role. That's a shame. He should have had a bigger part for his final film.

Anyone who has ever competed in the pinewood derby as a cub scout will probably enjoy this film as a nostalgic and funny tribute to the male competitive gene. I remember my own experience in how serious other boys took this race. For me, it was just fun to design my own car and see how it raced...but for others, winning is the only thing. This movie resolves itself in a very good way, making this film much better than I expected it to be.

This movie is a blast! You don't have to be a Cub Scout to enjoy all the Good clean family fun.

I have to admit that I wasn't expecting much from this film, but it really won me over. The characters might have been a little over-stated, but all in all an all too real look into the goings-on behind the scenes of what is supposed to be a Kid's Activity. I looked at some of the cars that were raced in the finals and it reminded me of some of the cars I saw at my own Pine Wood Derby as a kid and I know now, as I and the Scout Leaders did then, that the kid never lifted a finger in the construction process. But, oh well, que so-what, so-what. I still enjoyed this little film emensely, although I wish that Pat Morita had been in it more, he's one of my favorite character actors, and losing him last year was a real loss to entertainment as a whole. And the films exterior scenes were all filmed in my home town of St. George, Utah, so of coarse I'm going to like it for that reason alone, but the rest of the film is more than worth while too. Recommended!

This was a lot of fun ! Anyone who was a Scout, or has a Cub Scout in the family, will recognize at least a few of the characters in the film as someone they know...or even themselves.

As a mom with a son in scouts and a husband with a need for speed this movie hit close to home. It is a must see for anyone who has ever had to build a pinewood derby car for or with their cub scout. I laughed my way through the entire movie.

My husband and I showed this movie at Cub Scouts one night and we all loved it. Such a cute family movie. Our Scouts are about to work on their Pinewood Derby Cars so it gave them an idea of what all goes into it and to keep the Dads out of it as much as possible. I recommend this movie to all Cub Scout Packs. Clean language with a great message.

Purchased this because we have two cub scouts. They loved this. We had to share it with our Troop and pass it around to different families to watch.

If you ever participated in a Pinewood Derby you will want to see this. (Not that this is really what happens behind the scenes.....)