Madison (2001)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

William Bindley

Writers (WGA):

William Bindley (written by) &
Scott Bindley (written by)

Release Date:

22 April 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Tagline:

A town's future is riding with one man.

Plot:

A story about a man's personal struggle to victory in the 1971 Madison, Indiana hydro-plane regatta.

Plot Keywords:

Hydroplane | Father Son Relationship | Boat Racing | Memoir | Independent Film

Cast

James Caviezel	...	Jim McCormick (as Jim Caviezel)
Jake Lloyd	...	Mike McCormick
Mary McCormack	...	Bonnie McCormick
Bruce Dern	...	Harry Volpi
Paul Dooley	...	Mayor Don Vaughn
Brent Briscoe	...	Tony Steinhardt
Mark Fauser	...	Travis
Reed Diamond	...	Skip Naughton
Frank Knapp Jr.	...	Bobby Humphrey
Chelcie Ross	...	Roger Epperson
Byrne Piven	...	George Wallin
William Shockley	...	Rick Winston
Matt Letscher	...	Owen
Richard Lee Jackson	...	Buddy Johnson
Kristina Anapau	...	Tami Johnson

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild language and sports peril.

Runtime:

94 min | USA:99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:G | Argentina:Atp | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Addison Street Films

Trivia:

The film footage that represents the crash involving Buddy Johnson is actually taken from KING-TV film of the 1962 Miss Seattle Too disintegration on Seattle's Lake Washington.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The Miss Budweiser raced through the film in its all-red color scheme, which was not adopted by the team until 1994. As one of the most recognizable boats in the history of hydroplane racing, this mistake may have been made deliberate by filmmakers.

An apple pie of a sports movie

This is, to my knowledge, the only feature film ever to be made about professional boat racing. And it tells what is probably the most compelling story the sport has ever produced: how the little river town of Madison, Indiana, came to host the 1971 APBA Gold Cup race (the sport's equivalent of the Indy 500) and how driver Jim McCormick struggled to lead Madison's community-owned racing boat, the Miss Madison, into the race.

As a sports movie, "Madison" feels fairly similar to the Disney baseball movie, "The Rookie", which came out a few years ago. It places the sports story squarely within the context of family life, and its fundamental message is that of the value of community--especially small-town communities like Madison. (Hoosier rocker John "Small Town" Mellencamp even provides the narration for the movie.) Since this is a story about small-town underdogs taking on the big city favorites, it resembles other Indiana sports movies in many ways--"Breaking Away", "Rudy", "Hoosiers", etc. Its storyline is not really unique in that respect. But the movie is reasonably well done, and it really pulls you into the excitement of boat racing in the final sequence, through some really nice cinematography.

I guess I can't help but feel like there was a missed opportunity here, though. It is unlikely that there will ever be another movie made about professional boat racing, so it would have been nice if "Madison" could have taught us more about what makes the people who are involved in the sport tick. There is one interesting comment made towards the end of the film about how "only someone who's raced boats can understand why so many men have given their lives for the sport." There was a lot behind that statement, I think--especially when made in reference to a sport which has such a notoriously dangerous reputation as boat racing. I just wish I could have come away from this movie with an even better understanding of where it came from.

Besides that...this is a nice little movie, and a fine tribute to Jim McCormick and the people of Madison. Go ahead and take your kids to it, and don't forget to stick around for the final credits...