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‘Excellent’ – Variety
‘An invigorating and touching movie’ – Time Out
Jeff Bridges gives a spellbinding performance in The Last American Hero, as a moonshine smuggler who became one of NASCAR’s first champions.
Loosely based on a series of Esquire articles by Tom Wolfe, it tells the true story of young hillbilly, Junior Johnson, who became an American car-racing hero. It features an all-star cast including Oscar-winners Gary Busey (Lethal Weapon) and Ned Beatty (Superman) and comes to UK DVD for the first time on 12 September 2011 from Second Sight Films.
Elroy ‘Junior’ Jackson (Jeff Bridges – The Big Lebowski) is a kid full of attitude who helps his bootlegger father transport their homemade booze. When Junior crashes into a police blockade, they arrest his father who is looking at a lengthy prison stretch. Junior must raise some fast cash to get him released and hits the demolition derby circuit. His natural skill behind the wheel sees him swiftly move on to stock car racing where he meets a promoter (Ned Beatty) and finally gets the chance to make it big on the famous NASCAR circuit.
The Last American Hero is one of the greatest car racing films of all time.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.