The Racers are a very close knit family whose lives center around race car driving. The patriarch of the group is Pops Racer (John Goodman) he runs a small, but proud auto shop with the help of family friend and fix it man, Sparky (Kick Gurry) and happy homemaker Mom Racer (Susan Sarandon). The crown jewel of the company though is their eldest son Rex Racer (Scott Porter) one of the most gifted race car drivers ever to sit behind the wheel until dubious circumstances lead to him leaving the family and ultimately being killed in a no holds barred type of underground race called The Crucible. Once middle son Speed (Emile Hirsch) is old enough to fill his brothers shoes he most certainly does and once again the Racer Family is on everyone’s minds in the racing community. This time, however, Speed is forced to choose between sticking it out as an independent or signing with racing powerhouse Royalton led by the sinister Mr. Royalton himself (Roger Allam).

When Speed turns down the offer and Royalton declares all out war on the Racers, it’s up to them with the help of the lovely Trixie (Christina Ricci) and the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox) to find a way to fight back and restore racing to a pure sport that isn’t all about the money!

I know, it sounds typical and schmaltzy when you break it down like that and with a lesser cast it might have appeared that way on film but I guarantee you it doesn’t. The relationships that exist between these characters are all very real and very moving.

Emile Hirsch more than proved his acting chops in last years Into the Wild and previous to that in the amazing indie, The Mudge Boy, and even though at first glance Speed Racer is a very one dimensional guy, Hirsch manages to create a very layered very moving performance. His scenes opposite veteran ‘dad’ actor John Goodman and also opposite Lost star Matthew Fox make you forget about the fantastical nature of the setting that they are in and brings it right back down to the emotional nature of the situation.

Also there really isn’t a better actress working today to play the role of supportive and loving mom than Susan Sarandon. Even if she doesn’t have a great deal to play in a given scene all it takes is a quick cut to her reaction to what’s going on and the scenes quality has been increased ten fold. She’s always amazing.

The same can be said of Christina Ricci in her role as the ‘always there for ya’ supportive best friend and potential love interest, Trixie. They never over do the love angle which was very refreshing but it’s also very clear that Speed will never turn ...