Driven (DeLorean Movie) *Merged*

[CFI]

I haven't watched this, nor do I intend to. One thing I'm seeing is how this specific film is being referred to as "Hollywood". Just because it's got some somewhat known actors in it, it's far from Hollywood as Hollywood can be. This is a tiny little $1 million dollar film, that took over a year to find a distributor remotely interested in distributing it. The writer and director are actually both from Northern Ireland, and are as far removed from Hollywood and the L.A. filmmaking scene as they can possibly be.

“Hollywood” is being used in a loose sense, meaning “entertainment industry”. Is that better?

[Hill Valley PD]

I think if you watch it from an entertainment, not historical prospective, it is better than expected. In fact, it explores the what if, rather than the what was. It is told through the eyes of a documented conman and unreliable source of which very little information is available. Given what Marty says, they probably HAD to do it this way to get the film made.

[DaraSue]

Despite gnashing my teeth at the thought of spending money on this, I rented it from Amazon last night just to make sure I was accurate in my complaints about it. For all that it was a ridiculous fictionalization it did manage to be pretty entertaining, although I wanted to throw something at the screen when



(spoilers below)





they showed JZD asking Hoffman if he could help him out with financing. To be fair, we don't know with absolute certainty that it didn't happen like that, and they don't actually show him saying "I want to do a drug deal", it was just "I can't get financing from anybody legitimate, you know people, I need your help" and then cut to Hoffman telling Tisa that JZD wants to do a coke deal.

Hoffman is portrayed as a sleaze bag, but still having a conscience, which is probably going to be the dealbreaker for a lot of us. JZD is also depicted as shady and hubristic but not without depth or caring for his company and his dream. The story does paint Hoffman as steering him (further) along the road to ruin, first by dropping hints about the kind of people he knows and then by orchestrating the meetings with Hetrick and talking the feds into loaning JZD the money for the deal.

Everything about JZD and Hoffman's friendship as it's shown onscreen (from JZD fixing Hoffman's car to Hoffman trying to talk JZD out of going to the hotel room is obviously pure fantasy, and the ending with JZD and Hoffman in the cafe is, to borrow a phrase from a certain Mr. Wills, out in Cloud Cuckoo Land. That said, for a low-budget flick it was pretty well done in a cinematography sense, had a lot of darkly humorous moments and a few serious ones where some of the real tragedy bled through. I was never bored by it, I'll give it that much. I think I can cautiously recommend it to anybody with two hours and $6 to burn and who can deal with seeing the man and the car shown in a less than flattering light. If it helps, the filmmakers did a solid for the Puerto Rico crew by filming there after Maria, and those guys are pretty excited about it, so there's that. Maybe if this and Framing JZD are successful it'll open the door to a project that doesn't have to try and tell the whole story in two hours, and can include everything that came afterward and show that JZD's dream did live on.

[CFI]

I think if you watch it from an entertainment, not historical prospective, it is better than expected.

That's how I see it. It's not a documentary. It's entertainment.

[MacStainless]

Just finished watching it. It was.... okay? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Not great but not bad either. Obviously most of it is dramatized, but I wouldn't expect much more from a hollywood movie designed to entertain people. I'm more curious about who's car (VIN) is in the movie at the end.

[Hill Valley PD]

I just rewatched the scene with the car. It has grey interior (looks darker because of lighting in some parts), light wheels, grooved hood/no gas flap, power rear antenna, non integrated door pull straps, DMC logo on automatic shifter, the digital clock in front of shifter, and one of the Craig radios, looks to be second style used. This car is probably between 4837-6158. I'd guess what, maybe Oct '81 build? Also, a few custom touches I noticed: the exhaust tips are not round, maybe latter style or aftermarket (hard to tell), fascias are glossy (redone - since that VIN would have the matte finish), dummy switch next to power window switches is functional for something, carbon fiber trim piece where cigarette lighter is, and binnacle looks leather wrapped.

[Michael]

I just rewatched the scene with the car. It has grey interior (looks darker because of lighting in some parts), light wheels, grooved hood/no gas flap, power rear antenna, non integrated door pull straps, DMC logo on automatic shifter, the digital clock in front of shifter, and one of the Craig radios, looks to be second style used. This car is probably between 4837-6158. I'd guess what, maybe Oct '81 build? Also, a few custom touches I noticed: the exhaust tips are not round, maybe latter style or aftermarket (hard to tell), fascias are glossy (redone - since that VIN would have the matte finish), dummy switch next to power window switches is functional for something, carbon fiber trim piece where cigarette lighter is, and binnacle looks leather wrapped.

Just ask Chris Burns already.

[Patrick C]

I just rewatched the scene with the car. It has grey interior (looks darker because of lighting in some parts), light wheels, grooved hood/no gas flap, power rear antenna, non integrated door pull straps, DMC logo on automatic shifter, the digital clock in front of shifter, and one of the Craig radios, looks to be second style used. This car is probably between 4837-6158. I'd guess what, maybe Oct '81 build? Also, a few custom touches I noticed: the exhaust tips are not round, maybe latter style or aftermarket (hard to tell), fascias are glossy (redone - since that VIN would have the matte finish), dummy switch next to power window switches is functional for something, carbon fiber trim piece where cigarette lighter is, and binnacle looks leather wrapped.

The car used in “Driven” was VIN 5922.

[Hill Valley PD]

Ha. Thanks guys. I have this forum and The illustrated Buyer's Guide to DeLorean Automobiles to thank for narrowing it down to the correct VIN range.

[DMCVegas]

That's how I see it. It's not a documentary. It's entertainment.

What, exactly, is the difference in this day and age?