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STUDIO: Lions Gate
MSRP: $14.98
RATED: Not Rated
RUNNING TIME: 81 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Deleted scenes
• Behind-the-scenes

The Pitch

Other than being a super rich, pretty boy, celebrity NASCAR champion driver, ole’ Jeff is just an ordinary slob like the rest of us.


"Okay, so after I clip Jimmie Johnson’s bumper and send him spiraling into the infield like a dervish, the plan is to put Kenseth into the wall and maybe run over Earnhardt’s crew chief. Everybody clear? Okay, now lets go and be safe out there…"

The Humans

Jeff Gordon, Patrick Dempsey, Charles Barkley, Pat Riley, Troy Aikman, Kelly Ripa, Jay Leno, and a bunch of beer swilling NASCAR fans.

The Nutshell

24 x 24 is an overall look at the life and ongoing career of Jeff Gordon, who has already established himself as one of the all-time great NASCAR drivers. Credited with help bring the sport into the mainstream, Gordon is followed by cameras during his busy life which includes his racing, business ventures, charity work and leisure time. Several celebrities also chime in with their thoughts.


"So tell me, Jeff – "
"Look, Patrick, before we get into this I gotta ask: dude seriously, are you kidding me with that hairdo?"

The Lowdown

24 x 24 is a pretty-well-made sports promotional about Gordon. The quality of the doco is crystal clear and atypical in that it spends a great deal more time with Gordon in his private life than it does in his racing endeavors. It follow the boilerplate formula of starting with his roots driving in California and coming into NASCAR as a teenage rookie and immediately contending. During his early years he had a heated rivalry with The Intimidator, with whom he also had an off-track friendship. He’s as equally loathed as he is beloved in NASCAR because he brings a clean cut, “Madison Avenue” sensibility to what used to be a predominantly Southern sport and many of the good ole boys, particularly Earnhardt diehards, ain’t havin’ nothin’ to do with no pretty boy Yankee driver.


"Hey, Sal, is that Gordon snorkeling over there?"
"Son of a bitch it is!"
"Let’s go take a bite out of his ass for ole Dale…"


Having done a little research on Gordon as I’m not really a huge NASCAR fan, I discovered that, after watching
24 x 24, it played it very safe in its portrayal of Gordon, making no mention of his tabloid divorce from his first wife, a former Miss Winston, Brooke Sealy, and greatly downplayed the utter contempt that Gordon brings with him from his detractors. But it’s pretty thorough in recounting his life and career as Patrick Dempsey – an even bigger pretty boy – interviews Number 24 and celebrities from all walks of life give their testimonials. Fans will probably enjoy it, except for rednecks with the number “3” tattooed on their chests.


"So what’s your name little boy?"
"Jeremy"
"Would you like to be a race car driver when you grow up, Jeremy?"
"Yes."
"That’s nice…but unfortunately that’s not gonna happen because you see, you have Stage 4 lymphoma and they tell me you’ll be lucky to make it through Labor Day…"


The Package

The video quality is quite good on this disc and there’s a wide variety of activities that Gordon is portrayed doing, particularly his charity work and business ventures. Sound is okay. There’s also 15 minutes of deleted scenes and outtakes, which are pretty much more of the same in the main flick.

6.0 out of 10