Santa Barbara Festival: "Dirt" Review

As a granola loving Californian, I admittedly had no desire to see a race car movie set in Texas. Other than a fascination with the Richard Petty/David Pearson battles in the 1970's on Wide World of Sports, I am not a NASCAR fan and never will be. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the film "Dirt".
The movie chronicled a race car driving season at the Devil's Bowl Speedway in Midland, Texas. While the race scenes are well shot, what sets this movie in the top echelon of the 20 or so films I have already viewed for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, is director's Jeff Bowden's storytelling of the people in the movie. From a former champion who wants nothing more to get it back, to a dedicated family man who's own teenage daughter wants nothing more to follow in her daddy's footsteps, to finally a Texas drawled Plato, each individual is interesting in their own right.

erhaps the most compellinig story is about Gayla Jones, the lone woman driver who has to balance motherhood while having a husband in the same class. To make matters more difficult, Jones' sponsor is deeply in love with her. Robert Towne, who wrote "Days of Thunder", couldn't have imagine a better story.
Despite having a great story, photography, and editing, the movie is not perfect however. Perhaps it was because the scenes were taped at the track, some of the dialogue there was hard to pick up. Otherwise, it was a solid effort that racing fans and non alike will enjoy.

Jeff Bowden on "Dirt."

"We wanted to make a movie on racing, because frankly, we felt that there weren't any. I was working on another project, when I heard about the Devil's Bowl race track. When I heard about the people involved in racing, I knew that this is the place. So, in 2002 for four days a week over a period of nine months Greg Biggerstaff, Arbor Watt and I filmed the racers at the track and at home. They couldn't have been more accommodating and opened themselves up for us. After a long editing process, instead of a test audience, we screened in front of the drivers. That was a big risk because if they didn't like it, there was the possibility of 200 drivers and family turning into an angry mob. Fortunately they like it and it went on to the festival tour from Melbourne to probably its last stop, here in Santa Barbara. Then we hope, distribution. I think that even if people don't like racing (Although from the South, Bowden is decidedly not a race fan either), they will enjoy the movie because it really shows the human nature of people while they are doing what they love...racing."