• Home
• Blog
• Podcast
• Forum
• Speed Shop
• Archives
• About Us

Subscribe

• Channels:
• Formula 1
• IRL
• NASCAR
• Motorcycles
• NHRA

“3″ Movie a Worthwhile Effort

3 - The Dale Earnhardt Story ESPN Original Movie

“3″ doesn’t sound like much of a title for a movie, but if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool NASCAR fan, it’s almost a lock that you plan on tuning to ESPN on Dec. 11. Co-produced by and starring Barry Pepper, the movie has not been approved by Earnhardt’s family, yet I think if it were about my father or brother, I would not be incensed. Pepper was featured in “Saving Private Ryan” as the sniper Daniel Jackson and as Roger Maris in “61*” on HBO.

Certainly, there are a lot of areas where the script glosses over parts of history or even creates scenes which never happened. It’s not a strict adherence to dogma, but rather a good dramatization based on facts, as they say.

The movie opens with Dale Earnhardt’s father, Ralph, leaving his job in a cotton lint-induced haze at the old Cannon Mills plant where he toiled to keep food on the table and a roof over his family’s heads. Dale as a child meets his father at the plant gate. From there, the movie explores the tensions between father and son and later on shows the real love and respect Dale had for his father. Watch closely as the relationship between the two is never carefully stated but rather implied in action. The opening scene is repeated as the emotional climax of the production.

Sure, for the purists out there, “3″ has some technical errors in some of the racing scenes. They’re minor and do nothing to detract from the movie unless you want them to. I challenge most people to list more than the ones I could see, yet they merely highlight the overall excellence of the effort. The most obvious of them is simply the speeds of the cars and that may be thanks to over four decades of being close to the action in one way or another. Anyone who quibbles about these errors is looking for something to gripe about, not watching the film.

Barry Pepper, aided by some excellent makeup and Hollywood prosthetics, plays Earnhardt from the ages of 16 to 49. Pepper manages to look eerily like the second Earnhardt racing star. He obviously did a lot of homework as he captured many of the mannerisms and speech patterns of Dale Sr too. Other reviewers have commented on this resemblance. Other characters do not bear the close physical resemblance to their originals but that’s probably to be expected.

Filming took place in and around the actual locations of many scenes in the biopic, especially the frame house where Earnhardt grew up and the two-bay cinderblock garage his father raced out of. It’s fun for local residents to spot places they see often.

The interplay between personalities is the real focus of this movie. The interplay between Earnhardt and Neil Bonnet, portrayed here by Shaun Bridgers, is nearly as important to plot development as between Earnhardt and the young Dale Jr. later in the film. Humpy Wheeler, president of Lowe’s Motor Speedway, gave the future Intimidator his first shot at the big time with a drive in a ‘Cup’ race at Charlotte. From there, Earnhardt went on to drive for Rod Osterlund, then J. D. Stacy before moving on to the drive with Richard Childress.

All in all, “3″ is easily the best personality racing movie I’ve seen. I’ve met many of the characters portrayed in the film. I can only claim friendship with a couple of them, though the film does reflect most of the ones I’ve met reasonably well. Leagues ahead of “Last American Hero” or “Greased Lightning” and somewhat ahead of “Heart Like a Wheel,” it stands at the head of the class. If you’re a fan of racing or a fan of “The Intimidator” set aside the night of Dec. 11 for an hour and a half on ESPN. I think you’ll agree with me.

ESPN.com: “3″ official movie web site.

Comments