Free Style

“Free Style”

TedFlicks Rating:
$10 ticket on a scale of $0 to $12.

“Free Style,” the latest feature from Canadian helmer William Dear via the Samuel Goldwyn Co, is a bit like a good Chinese dinner.  One enjoys the eating but it doesn’t leave a lasting impression.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing.  Ninety-three minutes of PG rated diversion with a charming, good-looking cast led by Corbin Bleu (who also gets producer credit) of “High School Musical” fame, could be a lot worse.  “Free Style” is a feel-good film that centers on motorcross.  It’s a sport that involves racing dirt bikes (motorcycles) around challenging tracks.  The title comes from the jump – a biker launches his ride some 30 feet into the air for a distance of about 100 feet.  It’s supposed to be the biggest rush in the sport short of winning the race, and the way Dear framed it, the claim is not difficult to believe.  Set in the Pacific Northwest, mud plays a major role at the race track.  Kids will love it.

Plot is predictable.  Cale Bryant (Bleu), a promising racer, is a bit of a square peg in a round hole.  Despite the charm, he does not quite mesh with his back-slapping frat-boy-wannabe racing buds.  Part of it is economic.  He works two jobs to keep his single mom (Penelope Ann Miller) and impossibly cute kid sister (Madison Pettis) afloat.  The buds are far better off.  He is also mixed race. Long lost dad is black.  A series of mis-steps causes him to lose his ride. He also loses his girl (Tegan Moss). Rest of pic is boy getting new ride through luck and pluck while stepping on every conceivable banana peel, meeting new girl (Sandra Echeverria of Telemundo fame), losing new girl… and you know the rest.  Bright spot is Pettis.  She functions as a sort of precocious Greek chorus and supplies what four-letter words keep pic from a G rating.  A sub-plot involving long-lost dad (David Reivers, who also gets producer credit) is almost gratuitous, while another subplot involving Miller and a friendly local cop (John Shaw) is neatly integrated into the storyline. What keeps this many-times-told tale from putting auds to sleep is a firm hand in the storytelling (kudos to writers Jeffrey Nicholson and Joshua Leibner), directorial confidence, and economical editing.  Stunt work is superior.  A Hollywood ending wraps it up in a very neat package.

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Free Style on Netflix