Snake & Mongoose (2013)

Why so much hype?

Excellent but underrated film

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Drag racing in the early days must have been really difficult. In the 70s and 80s Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen showed us how in the film, Snake and Mongoose (2013). Drag Racing has defiantly changed over the last 50 years.These types of films can be extremely wretched and poorly put together. It is fair to say this is one of the best racing films, especially because it is based on a true story. This film could have been placed in the drama category, but instead placing it in the action and adventure avenue. Some might see this in a category all its own, known as based on a true story. Combining historical footage and showing their life story through actors is amazing to say the least.The plot of Snake and Mongoose (2013) is the story of Prudhomme and McEwen's relationship in the 70s and 80s. The story begins in southern California with two young kids having fun on the weekends trying to make a few extra bucks. As time went on they got better and better at what they do and pick up a few sponsors along the way. With McEwen's family sitting at home while he was out racing and him not being home caused some major problems. McEwen's wife Judy decides she has had enough and leaves him and takes the three boys with her. Prudhomme and McEwen are no longer teammates but are still friends looking out for one another. While out on the circuit traveling with his boys, McEwen was startled by his middle son. McEwen runs to find his youngest almost lifeless on the floor. McEwen takes him to the hospital and finds out the boy had leukemia. Which, by the end of the story takes his life, and gives his father a new perspective on reality.Two friends doing what they do best when their feelings separate them, ultimately brings them back together stronger than ever before. Prudhomme was originally in it for fun. McEwen, on the other hand was in it for the money, counting every penny and spending more than he had.The producers did a phenomenal job bringing historical footage into a story, telling a reenactment of two men's lives. The best part of the movie is when McEwen tells Prudhomme he was with me the whole time, showing him a picture. Prudhomme shakes his head and says me too, showing a different picture. McEwen went through a really hard time but he was resilient enough to bounce back once he accepted the fact that nothing more can be done.The movie ends with the original interview of Prudhomme and McEwen in 1978 at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana. They also show extra footage from after they retired and were inducted into the motorsports hall of fame. They made it though some extremely rough times and are the backbone on which today's National Hot Rod Association was founded upon.

I was a teen and really into drag racing back then so I certainly remember the Snake and Mongoose. With that being said I really enjoyed this movie even though it's obviously pretty low budget. As a race fan I really liked seeing how hard of a struggle it was for even the guys who were doing all the winning in those days like the Snake. And the way it was the Mongoose who pushed all the business deals and how the ideas came about was very interesting as well. And who knew McEwen was into making safety innovations as well! Of course every second of the vintage racing films (which make up a good portion of the movie!) was a delight and spotting shots of Linda Vaughn and Jungle Pam an added bonus. The shots of the kids in real '70s clothes brought back lots of memories too.So if you are at all into motorsports, or even if you simply bought the Snake and Mongoose matchboxes back then, it's certainly worth a guilty pleasure movie night!

If you're looking for award winning caliber acting or writing here then this is probably not the movie for you , as it has a definite B-movie stamp on it. However, I found myself engaged enough in the story, based on true events, to be quite interested throughout.It chronicles the 20 year drag racing rivalry between Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen, culminating at the NHRA U.S. National Championships, in 1978 at Indianapolis, Indiana. This was rather a friendly rivalry even culminating in a business partnership at one point.The two men were polar opposites in personality with McEwen, portrayed by Richard Blake, being outgoing, gregarious, and always looking at innovations and the big picture, while Prudhomme. played by Jesse Williams, being a "nose-to-the-grindstone" type who was completely focused on winning races.Led by McEwen's excellent marketing skills, they eventually landed the large toy manufacturer Mattel as a sponsor, and it proved to be a highly beneficial partnership for all concerned, with the Hot Wheels toy promotions. This also helped bring drag racing onto the national scene and brought a whole new wave of fans on board.With a good supporting cast including Ashley Hinshaw, Tim Blake Nelson, Fred Dryer, Noah Wylie, and Kim Shaw the movie was also enhanced by its' interspersion of actual drag races and the national TV coverage at times. There's also a short but funny interview clip with the real Prudhomme and McEwen which was valuable to see.Having watched drag racing on TV years ago, I found this film overall to be interesting, despite, as mentioned, the wooden dialog and acting.

"What you have in your office right here is the biggest draw in racing." In the 1970's the NHRA drag racing circuit was just starting to grow. The two biggest stars Don "The Snake" Proudhomme (Williams) and Tom "Mongoose" McEwen decide to join together and form a partnership. This partnership leads to a sponsorship with Hot Wheels as well as taking the sport to new heights. But like most things the rivalry on the track leads to tension off. I have stated before that I am not a big car racing fan, real life or movies. I wasn't a fan of Days of Thunder but I did think Rush was OK. This one is more along the lines of Rush. This one deals with the off the track aspect rather then the actual on track racing. The acting is OK but the thing that really helps the movie is the fact that it used actual race footage during the scenes, rather then the cheesy recreations most often used. Again though racing fans will really like this, but for people like me, I thought it was OK but nothing I'd watch again. Overall, better then I expected and the fact that real footage was used really made the movie that much better. I give this a B.