Trading Paint is a 2019 action film about a veteran race car driver and his son who overcome family and professional conflicts, balancing competition, ego, resentment and a racing nemesis to come out stronger on the other side.
Dirt track racing might not be as popular as its more commercially successful NASCAR counterpart, but it has a huge following and a dedicated league of drivers, generations deep in the sport. Such is the premise for Karzan Kader‘s new film Trading Paint, a low budget racing movie making laps on a familiar track, made by people who clearly love the cars and the competition. While it might not have the umph or energy a bigger studio film might guarantee, it’s not without its charms and drama, the good ol’ boys, local flavor a nice change up from the glitz and glam of high stakes pro stock car action.
Deep in Alabama, Cam Monroe (Toby Sebastian) is about to make the last turn and take the checkered flag, his proud father Sam (John Travolta) in the pits cheering him on. Too bad the engine blows just when Cam’s ready to win, the rival Bob Linsky (Michael Madsen) car crossing first and winning the trophy. More still, Cam, feeling he can’t get a championship with the Monroe name, jumps ship (er…cars?) and decides to race for Linksy, crushing Sam’s heart and in the process, motivating his old man to get back behind the wheel and defend the family name.
For a movie about fast cars in fast races, Trading Paint is a quiet story, the movie spending plenty of time off the track as the simple beef between to old drivers keeps the story chugging along. Thing is, we don’t get much for what’s been built-up between Sam and Bob, Linsky just the ‘bag guy’ in the tale because, well, he’s got the money to keep his cars and drivers in top shape. Sam, a legend in the series, who stopped racing six years earlier, still living in the shadow of a personal accident that haunts him, gets right back in the race with nary a thought early in the movie, leaving us feeling a little short-changed in offering up an emotional punch, but it’s not really about all that when it comes together.
What it works best to be is a father and son battle trying to keep the peace while the younger strives for independence and a name for himself. Naturally, it spills out onto the track where racing becomes much more after Linsky plots to make it worse. That pretty much secures all the main ingredients, mixed in with the usual racing shenanigans, making Trading Paint a simple and predictable little film that well, surprisingly finds plenty of traction in making it work.
Sure, it might not have the pick up and vroom you might hope for, the car versus car stuff mostly limited to a few spins on a dimly-lit track, but that’s okay as the better bits are face-to-face with Travolta doing well as the hard-tack father with a big heart. He’s great fun to watch, and the best the thing going, far better than Madsen, who is clearly drifting through his brief screen time. Look for Shania Twain as a love interest and Kevin Dunn as a friend of the family, as well, both pulling their weight and then some in their trope-heavy roles. Not for everyone, this is nonetheless, a good ol’ time that’s much better than it has a right to be.