To me, this movie is perfection.

Expected more

As Good As It Gets

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

This film is one to watch if having difficulty falling asleep. I'm from Madison, Wisconsin, the largest of the 19 Madison's. I have never been to Madison, Indiana, but would like to visit. Madison, Wisconsin could hold regattas and do, with sailboats, as opposed to power boats. Perhaps they do hold powerboat races, since I'm frequently out of town.That aside, the film doesn't do justice to any large or small city. I didn't become engaged to Madison, Indiana by watching this film. Was I supposed to? Since when does powerboat racing turn the average film viewer on? This film just doesn't hold the interest of myself and others who watched the movie with me.

I'd like to first address the folks who haven't seen the film and are unfamiliar with it, or its topic...This sleeper film, as noted, is based around the true story of an under-dog hometown racing boat team that tried to win the "big one" against long odds in front of their home crowd. But the boat, the effort required to make the race happen, and the race itself is really secondary to the relationship between a 10 year-old son (Jake Lloyd) and his father (Jim Caviezel) as the demands of work, family, the sense of civic duty and the boat begin to pull the relationship, as well as his marriage, apart under a great deal of stress.Some have criticized this film as a formula driven "feel-good" sports film, and I suppose that this is true to a point. However, the acting is very believable and heart-felt. In fact, I think the emotion that Lloyd exhibits in the film is far superior to the rather wooden appearance he later made in Star Wars as young Anakin. Caviezel also does a great job as Jim McCormick, the father and husband who finds himself thrown into situations not necessarily of his choosing.The cinematography definitely conceals the low-budget nature of the film. Filmed in the "where it really happened" location of Madison, Indiana, "Madison" definitely shows off this visual gem on the Ohio River as well as its surrounding country side and wide vistas of the river valley.The film was shot and then set on a shelf for about five years. I was tickled to see that it at least was allowed distribution to the general public via DVD.This film will fill an evening of family entertainment and allow you to see a fine performance from two actors before they went on to add their talents to two block busters: The Passion, and The Phantom Menace.OK, part two... This is for the fans of the sport featured in this film that have been critical of the way things are portrayed in the movie. Two words: Lighten Up. I've been a sporadic fan of the Hydros, my in-laws are from the Madison area, and I had the fortune to be at the 1971 Madison "Gold Cup" race (granted I was seven at the time) and remember the hoopla surrounding the race (I also still have my admission badge). Despite all of the carping about the dramatic license taken with the story line, the fact remains that the core of the film is true. People looking for a documentary on the Miss Madison of 1971 should look elsewhere.This film is hardly the first non-fiction related sports event that has been "re-worked" for the big screen. Take a look at any informed fan's review of their favorite past-time as presented in the cinema and you'll find plenty of the same: "XYZ batted left-handed, but was a 'righty' in the film", "They didn't really play XYZ in the final game", "They got the score wrong", "The fuel those race cars use burns flameless", "They spliced footage from different locations together during the scenes of the game", "They didn't use that type of equipment back then", etc., etc., etc. Here's a newsflash people: Movie-goers that aren't passionate about your favorite sport don't care. That's right, read that again... "They don't care." They want good "entertainment". Sure it's nice if all the facts are dramatic enough to make it to the screen, but don't be surprised if you see a "blow-out" turned into a "nail-biter", or a plot twist or two thrown in for effect. Don't get all bent out of shape and let it ruin your enjoyment of the film. People aren't going to think "Madison" is a fraud if they learn, among other things, that a P-51 was never parked in the courthouse square in Columbus in 1971. Nor to they care what the APBA calendar looked like that year.At least the plot and acting in "Madison" are great. My number one sports passion is open-wheel Champcar racing and when "Driven" came out, not only was the film full of technical inaccuracies and impossibilities, the plot and acting stunk. Now THAT was an embarrassment to that form of racing! Finally, considering that Jim McCormick's son, his widow, and many others were more than happy with the treatment that "Madison" gave to the U-6 of 1971. If they are OK with it, then why can't you be too? If nothing else, it gives people a peak into the world of something they might never have heard of before: unlimited hydroplane racing. It might actually be good for the sport… For example, I now have a pretty good idea where I'll be come next 4th of July weekend. Sitting on the banks of the Ohio, eating one of my mother in-law's ham salad sandwiches, while watching the hydros pass under the Madison-Milton bridge sounds pretty good right now!

This is a great, great movie. Whether or not you are a hydroplane fan, this movie inspires every small town in America that you can come together as a community to accomplish great things. Jim C. even took less $ to finish this movie and it took nearly 3 1/2 years to find the financing to release it...it was WELL worth the wait. I highly recommend buying/renting this movie, you will not be disappointed. One note that could be considered an "easter egg." If you are a hydroplane fan and watch the DVD extras, you'll notice a comment that Jim C. makes about the death of a hydroplane legend. I believe he is misquoted and was trying to say Bill Muncey. Something for them to consider the next time they release this DVD. Regardless, the movie is one of the best films I have seen in a long, long time. Perfect actors were chosen for their roles, and the setting and story are wonderful for that small town, good ole' American tale.Best,James

Having been born and raised in Madison, Indiana, I have long looked forward to seeing this hydroplane racing drama. To my knowledge, it's only the second full length movie ever filmed in my hometown, 1958's "Some Came Running" being the first.Madison has a phenomenal boat racing tradition and eventually began holding an annual race called the Madison Regatta. Beginning in 1950, the race became affiliated with the American Power Boat Association and is still held annually in early July. Though Madison has a population of only 12,000, the Regatta maintains its place in the Unlimited Hydroplane division of APBA, whose other races are in major and mid-size cities.The Regatta regularly draws about 70,000-100,000 people and is a tremendous source of pride for residents of the town. A source of less pride but still a significant piece of trivia is that Madison has the world's only community owned unlimited hydroplane, Miss Madison.That boat, which has also been known in recent years by - surprise, surprise - various corporate sponsor names, is usually near the bottom of the circuit. In 44 years of racing, U-6 - its number regardless of its name - has won just six races.One of those was an upset in the 1971 Regatta, which is the basis for this movie. Making that victory even sweeter was that it also for the APBA Gold Cup.Now for the movie!Written by Hoosier brothers William and Scott Bindley and directed by William, "Madison" runs from preparations for the 1971 season until that year's Regatta. It appears to be semi-low budget but nevertheless professionally done.If I were completely unfamiliar with the town of Madison and the actual story of Miss Madison in 1971, I probably would enjoy this movie a lot more. But its opening lines "Based on a true story" are a huge exaggeration.For example, in the movie, Jim McCormick (played by Jim Caviezel) is a member of Miss Madison's crew but hasn't raced since sustaining a serious injury in a race 10 years earlier. He resumes racing for the first time with the '71 Regatta. In real life, McCormick had driven Miss Madison since 1969.In the movie, Madison wins the rights to host the Gold Cup by a drawing and after a massive struggle obtains the $50,000 needed to secure the race when Mayor Don Vaughn (Paul Dooley) takes money from the town's sanitation department. In real life, according to Miss Madison's web page, "Due to a technicality and a misunderstanding, the $30,000 bid for the race by the sponsoring Madison Regatta, Inc., was the only one submitted in time to the Gold Cup Contest Board."In the movie, at a town council meeting, a town official states that only 134 tickets had been sold for the Regatta – implying that it would be a struggle to raise the $50,000. That contradicts the movie's accurate portrayal of how popular hydroplane racing is in Madison and furthermore, that year's Regatta drew a crowd of 110,000!In the movie, Miss Madison's crew labors extensively the night before the race to get the boat in good racing condition but lacks a certain mechanical part. So several members of the crew drive to Columbus, Indiana - about 45 miles northwest - to steal that part out of a war plane that is displayed in front of the court house there! I'm almost 100% sure that never happened or even could have happened!And in the movie, the final race is far more dramatic than it was in real life.For a presumably much more accurate version of what happened in real life, check out the following from Miss Madison's web page: http://www.missmadison.com/history/71goldcup_b.htmBesides the above inaccuracies, the movie also portrays Madison and its residents as being more behind the times than they are, almost as if it's Mayberry.Still, there's much to like about the movie. It has some well filmed racing scenes, which should look great on the big screen. In addition, the movie shows much of Madison's historic and natural beauty.But the movie largely focuses on the relationship between McCormick and his son, Mike (Jake Lloyd), who is about 10 years old. Some of the best scenes involve interaction between the two, who are portrayed as very likable small town people who are close. Mike is usually with his father and also often helps the Miss Madison team with menial tasks. I don't know how accurate the portrayal of Jim's and Mike's relationship is but at least it works well as fiction.The actors/actresses who play the important characters in the movie all do a great job. Besides Caviezel, Lloyd and Dooley, the other best performances include Mary McCormack as Jim's wife Bonnie – who is against Jim's return to racing but of course becomes supportive toward the end – and Bruce Dern as legendary mechanic Harry Volpi.The movie also does a very good job portraying Madison's love for hydroplane racing and working the classic underdog formula. Appropriately, it uses music from another sports underdog film, "Rudy." To my knowledge, "Madison" contains no original music.On a side note, because the film is set in 1971, I looked hard for anachronisms. I've found only one. During the aforementioned town council meeting, which takes place in the gymnasium of the high school that I attended, the three point line of the basketball court can clearly be seen. The three point line was not added in Indiana high school basketball until the 1987-88 season!In conclusion, "Madison" is a very entertaining family movie that has something for everyone to enjoy. But I think it would have worked much better had it been completely fictionalized, as "Hoosiers" was - inspired by but not about a real event. Claiming that something is a true story when it largely isn't is annoying to me. 6/10.