Critic Reviews

• Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

  Curry's impressionable, charismatic young subjects are impossible not to care about.

• Stephen Holden, New York Times

  That said, Racing Dreams is one of the rare documentaries you leave wishing it was a little bit longer.

• Eric Hynes, Time Out New York

  Marshall Curry's sleek documentary captures the second-hand thrill of watching tweens hurtle at 70 mph around a blacktop, as it follows three potential superkarters over the course of a single season.

• Andrew Schenker, Village Voice

  Curry documents the huge pressure placed on these children not only to succeed on the track, but to raise the money needed to continue.

• David Edelstein, New York Magazine

  The journey is thrilling -- even if, on some level, you know that these kids are going in circles.

• Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

  For casual race fans, Racing Dreams is a real eye-opener. And it's a darned entertaining way to get a handle on a sport that can seem like a bunch of cars doing circles for a crowd that seems most interested in seeing that next epic wreck.

• Jeremy Heilman, MovieMartyr.com

  It's impossible to watch these kids struggle in their daily life and not have some rooting interest in their on-track success.

• Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com

  Revealing portrait of 3 very different young people intensely focused on being champions, and the impact of their determination on their devoted families (and vice versa).

• Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline

  If nothing else the racing scenes -- which look terrific, crisp and colorful, like the rest of the film -- will help the childless get in touch with their inner hysterical mother.

• Michelle Orange, Movieline

  At the end of the film's 93 minutes Curry could have invited me to a frog-sexing competition and I'd have happily signed on.

• Harvey S. Karten, Compuserve

  Nicely captures the milieu of, and the action in, the Go-Kart racing world.

• Adam Keleman, Slant Magazine

  Curry has expertly stitched together a 90-minute triumph in crowd-pleasing, wholesome entertainment.

• Steve Ramos, Boxoffice Magazine

  [Director Marshall] Curry, who received an Academy Award for his 2005 documentary Street Fight, captures the pulse pounding excitement of the races throughout the multi-state series.

• Maitland McDonagh, Film Journal International

  Marshall Curry's documentary about three bright, personable youngsters who dream of becoming professional NASCAR drivers is simultaneously a feel-good celebration of youthful optimism and a sobering reminder that not all dreams come true.

• Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing

  A Spellbound or Mad Hot Ballroom for the NASCAR set, Racing Dreams ends up speeding past its niche market and working its magic on anyone with a rooting interest in the dreams and ambitions of this country's youth.

• John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

  Reveals a fascinating subculture that is unknown to most moviegoers, where tweens with a need for speed can spend up to 48 weekends a year behind the wheel...

• Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion

  Even if you consider NASCAR itself a bore, you'll find this snapshot of what's often called its version of Little League compulsively watchable.

• Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com

  Marvelously shaped and sharpened by Curry, and teeming with concentrated racetrack suspense, Racing Dreams is a splendid picture that sincerely digs into the various forces that drag this specialized four-wheeled ambition along.

• Jennifer Merin, About.com

  A fast-paced documentary with a straight away formula one storyline. From start to finish, you watch three talented kids putting pedal to metal on the track and in their lives. They're all winners! So's the film!

• Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times

  Racing Dreams makes these kids into our unofficial little brothers and sister for 96 minutes, without much to note beyond their devotion to the sport. It can get a bit redundant but always remains interesting, as young lives take shape on an asphalt oval.

Read all 20 critic reviews