Simply Perfect

Charming and brutal

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

"Eat My Dust" is a broad, cartoony action comedy from the Roger Corman hit factory. Just one of a number of car chase / car crash movies he made during this period, it stars ever likable Ron Howard, at the height of his 'Happy Days' fame. Ron plays Hoover Niebold, a young man who's determined to impress a sexy rich girl, Darlene Kurtz (luscious blonde Christopher Norris). So he steals "Mabel", the prized vehicle of race car driver Big Bubba Jones (Dave Madden of 'The Partridge Family'). He, Darlene, and his entourage (including Rons' younger brother Clint) then partake in an epic pursuit that takes up most of the hour and a half long run time.People who love high speeds, lots of energy, impressive camera work, and grand scale vehicular mayhem are certain to have a fine time with this one. It's not for you if you're looking for depth, meaning, character development, and a really meaty story. Fortunately, writer / director Charles B. Griffith, a longtime Corman collaborator, knows how to satisfy the target audience, and gives "Eat My Dust" quite a bit of humor as well. It definitely has a chaotic feel to it at times, and characters often don't so much speak their dialogue as yell it. David Grisman composed the infectious, flavorful music score, serving as the perfect accompaniment. The stunt work is first rate, with Barbara Peeters ("Humanoids from the Deep") and the second unit giving it 100% percent.Many of the performances are appropriately broad. With so many of the adult characters coming off as boobs, it's not too hard to root for Hoover and company. Warren J. Kemmerling plays Hoovers' lawman father, and there's a fair amount of familiar faces among the supporting cast: Brad David, Peter Isacksen, Rons' actor father Rance (as one of the deputies), Paul Bartel, Corbin Bernsen (as a slow witted gas station attendant), and Beach Dickerson. Ron is as engaging as he's ever been, and Norris is tantalizing as the object of his lust.Overall, "Eat My Dust" is good of its type.Seven out of 10.

This is merely another one of those many 70s car-chase films. It's fun & mindless and features some beautiful rural California locations. Plus, how can you go wrong with the likable Ron Howard? The film was a box-office success for producer Roger Corman, which naturally led to the demand for a sequel. But Ron Howard didn't want money to perform in the sequel, he just wanted the opportunity to write and direct it (not to mention act in it). Thus came the hugely popular "Grand Theft Auto," Howard's first REAL stab at directing. The rest is history.This flick is merely okay, nothing special; what makes it worth purchasing for any red-blooded male is the supremely gorgeous Christopher Norris (yeah, it's a woman not a man). She's got some incredible God-given curves, to say the least, and she shows them off well in her skimpy hot-pants! Of course, if you're a "Brokeback Mountain" fan there's always Ron Howard.

Eat My Dust (1976) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Hoover (Ron Howard) loves hot rods and when he finds out that the girl of his dreams (Christopher Norris) likes them as well, he steals a professional racing car and the two head off with just about every cop in town chasing them. EAT MY DUST, as the title would suggest, is a chase picture from the drive-in days and as long as you don't take it too serious you should find yourself having a pretty good time. I think a lot of credit has to go to director Charles B. Griffith who keeps the action moving from start to finish and there's really not any dry spots. We get all sorts of wild chases and the director manages to make several of them quite memorable. This includes one scene where a cop car crashes and takes out the front of a store but the memorable thing is that the entire front falls down and we can see what the people inside are doing. Another good sequence deals with a bunch of shopping carts getting hit and this leads to all sorts of trouble for people in the same area as them. Even better are the car's point-of-view shots. These here certainly aren't ground-breaking but they're so interesting and they put you right in the middle of the action. Another major plus is that Howard and Norris are just so charming together that they keep you into the story even when there aren't any crashes going on. The supporting cast is charming as well and that includes Clint Howard playing yet another weirdo. EAT MY DUST isn't a classic by any stretch of the imagination but fans of chase pictures should be entertained.

Brash young hotshot Hoover Niebold (an extremely affable performance by Ron Howard) does his best to impress Darlene (an endearingly bubbly portrayal by fetching blonde Christopher Norris), a lovely lass he's smitten with. So Hoover decides to take Darlene on a wild joyride in a stolen souped-up hot rod while the inept local police led by Hoover's crusty father Sheriff Niebold (nicely played to the huffy hilt by Warren Kemmerling) pursue them all over the county. Writer/director Charles B. Griffith relates the slight, but lively and eventful story at a breathless breakneck pace, maintains an engaging lightweight tongue-in-cheek tone throughout, and stages the expected rubber-burning vehicular carnage with tremendous rip-roaring gusto. Moreover, Griffith presents the whole wacky affair with a likable screwball sensibility which makes this picture a perfectly harmless and mindless diversion (lots of automobiles get trashed, but nobody ever gets seriously hurt or killed), with the amusing kooky characters and the nonstop plethora of broad jokes -- a throwaway gag referencing "The Little Shop of Horror" is especially clever and funny -- ensure that this baby is a constant hoot to watch from start to finish. The cast have a ball with the broad material, with praiseworthy work by Dave Madden as good ol' boy stock car drive Big Bubba Jones, Clint Howard as the dippy George Poole Jr. Rance Howard as sturdy deputy Clark, Peter Isacksen as shotgun-toting yahoo Junior Hale, and Charles Howerton as the bumbling Deputy Jay Beah. Eric Saarinen's sunny cinematography gives this movie a pleasing bright look. David Grisman's jaunty bluegrass score further enhances the infectiously merry mayhem. Immensely enjoyable fluff.