Eat My Dust (1976) [Roger Corman: Supercharged Edition] – DVD

***½/**** Image B- Sound B Extras C+
starring Ron Howard, Christopher Norris, Brad David, Kathy O'Dare
written and directed by Charles B. Griffith

by Travis Mackenzie Hoover In one sense, Eat My Dust fails completely at its stated goal–that is, to be a raucous car-chase comedy with squares goosed at every turn. Not that cops don't crash their rides and girls don't swoon at reckless drivers, but the movie isn't really interested in setting up the very obvious payoffs required by the genre. Director Charles B. Griffith, a long-time writer for the Roger Corman factory, is more interested in the ambiance of a racetrack, the genial nature of teenagers, and an easygoing feeling of freedom quite opposed to the hyped-up version in which these things usually traffic. True, Griffith fumbles for his vision more often than he nails it, and he fluffs every joke and action scene from his own, hopelessly-standard screenplay. But for a teen flick starring Ron Howard, Eat My Dust has plenty to keep you diverted and even mildly surprised–if not enough that it sticks to your bones.

I liked the film best during the opening twenty minutes or so, when it's just a group of teenagers running around a stock-car racetrack. The main teen, Hoover Niebold (Howard), is pursuing the lovely Darlene Kurtz (Kathy O'Dare); and for a little while, it's a blissful series of vignettes, with Griffith showing a surprising amount of feel for the environment and the people who enjoy it. In his vague noodling, the director lucks into a couple of nice moments, including an unexpectedly effective lateral track in a snack bar. Even the obvious narrative set-ups (Hoover's hard-assed sheriff father (Warren Kemmerling); Darlene's crucial lust for speed) don't seem noticeable, because they're subsumed in the awkward yet savoury atmospherics that lift the movie above the ordinary.

Sadly, the rest doesn't quite live up to its potential. Once the lovestruck Hoover commandeers a stock car and takes Darlene and his friends on a joyride, the soft, aimless aesthetics remain forever at odds with the crash cars/destroy property/flout authority directives that would appear to govern the writing. In fact, there's a serious disconnect between the action- and gag-driven script and the slack pacing of the direction: instead of feeling a jolt as Hoover diverts countless cop cars to flip over and embarrass their drivers, one sort of settles back into one's seat and feels a dreamy calm. Still, and no matter how unintentional all of this is, the unusual approach to the material manages to make one a little more conscious of the brief character bits. Not to take them especially seriously, but to be aware, at least, of adolescent longing (however broadly drawn) beyond the fait accomplis afterthought to which the genre usually consigns it.

I hope this doesn't oversell the movie, because the beauty is only in snatches and surrounded by an awful lot of clumsiness. There's just the smallest hint of thematic resonance, which the mishandled jokes and stunts constantly interrupt. Though the generous long takes do well when people are talking plainly, they gum up the timing of the slapstick and render the car-nage unexciting. One duel featuring the heroes, a police car, and a flimsy barn is so lackadaisically staged that it makes almost no impact–and there's so much of this kind of thing that you grow impatient for the simple pleasures the film has stashed on the side. That being said, I can think of far worse ways to kill time than by watching Eat My Dust.

THE DVD
As with all too many of Buena Vista's Roger Corman DVD titles, Eat My Dust returns to the format via a "Supercharged Edition" in a cropped full-frame transfer. This is, of course, inexcusable (especially considering the alleged definitiveness of the studio's Corman line), as are the frequent strobing problems, but the image is bright and clear and the colours are pleasingly vivid. The Dolby 2.0 mono soundtrack is adequate, albeit a bit muffled and less than razor-sharp. Extras begin with a 45-second video intro from Corman, who talks about the film's big success and Ron Howard's subsequent directing career; no surprises, in other words. "Crashing on a Dime" (9 mins.) finds actor Christopher Norris, editor Tina Hirsch, and DP Eric Saarinen discussing their contributions. While Norris was a tad unnerved by the high-speed chases, Hirsch and Saarinen repeat the usual okeydoke about the greatness of the Corman factory and how they learned so much. The film's trailer and that annoying anti-piracy PSA round out the disc.

90 minutes; PG; 1.33:1; English DD 2.0 (Mono); English, English SDH, French subtitles; DVD-5; Region One; Buena Vista