A passable, watchable documentary about three kids trying to find success in the World Karting Association 11-and-12-year-olds go-kart circuit while also dealing with typical teen problems like anger management and, in the case of female driver Annabeth Barnes, boys and birthday parties. Director Marshall Curry (who also did Street Fight, the solid 2005 documentary about the Newark mayoral race) sketches their home lives, and they’re pretty typical: their parents are excited for them and push them but not so driven that they won’t let the kids stop. The kids live primarily in rural areas and have uneventful home lives. There’s not a lot of drama in the home life, and other than a late potential-disqualification potentially ending a championship run, the racing proceeds pretty straightforward as well. Actually, the strangest thing about the film is that, unlike, say, the sad inevitability and inexorable struggles of Hoop Dreams, the three kids chronicled in this piece…end up being the champions in the two divisions, and Barnes gets accepted into a prestigeous NASCAR diversity program. I don’t know if they just picked the prohibitive favorites or they followed a ton of kids and cut it down to the winners, but it’s very bizarre to be so successful at your choices. Other than that, it’s a decent doc, but I can’t figure out why they decided to screen it theatrically. This seems like it deserves a good late night run on the Speed Network.
[Grade: 7/10 (B-) / #14 (of 20) of 2010 documentaries]
myboringlife42 