Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

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

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

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 enjoyed the film, yes it is a bit hokey in places and the Bindleys have fudged some of the facts but you feel good walking out of the theater. A great family movie, it was a lot of fun. A lot of small-town humor, but you get the feeling of the mid west in the early '70's was more like the 1950's.The race scenes were very well done considering they were using about three or four boats and repainted them a lot. Great to hear the Merlins and Allisons doing their thing. The actual boats used in the movie are in the race boat museum in Seattle.For the fact nit-pickers, Harry Volpi lived in Reno, Nevada.

This is, to my knowledge, the only feature film ever to be made about professional boat racing. And it tells what is probably the most compelling story the sport has ever produced: how the little river town of Madison, Indiana, came to host the 1971 APBA Gold Cup race (the sport's equivalent of the Indy 500) and how driver Jim McCormick struggled to lead Madison's community-owned racing boat, the Miss Madison, into the race.As a sports movie, "Madison" feels fairly similar to the Disney baseball movie, "The Rookie", which came out a few years ago. It places the sports story squarely within the context of family life, and its fundamental message is that of the value of community--especially small-town communities like Madison. (Hoosier rocker John "Small Town" Mellencamp even provides the narration for the movie.) Since this is a story about small-town underdogs taking on the big city favorites, it resembles other Indiana sports movies in many ways--"Breaking Away", "Rudy", "Hoosiers", etc. Its storyline is not really unique in that respect. But the movie is reasonably well done, and it really pulls you into the excitement of boat racing in the final sequence, through some really nice cinematography.I guess I can't help but feel like there was a missed opportunity here, though. It is unlikely that there will ever be another movie made about professional boat racing, so it would have been nice if "Madison" could have taught us more about what makes the people who are involved in the sport tick. There is one interesting comment made towards the end of the film about how "only someone who's raced boats can understand why so many men have given their lives for the sport." There was a lot behind that statement, I think--especially when made in reference to a sport which has such a notoriously dangerous reputation as boat racing. I just wish I could have come away from this movie with an even better understanding of where it came from.Besides that...this is a nice little movie, and a fine tribute to Jim McCormick and the people of Madison. Go ahead and take your kids to it, and don't forget to stick around for the final credits...

"Madison" is wholesome, family entertainment. It's an all American movie. Jim Caviezel does a great job portraying Jim McCormick as determined and dedicated, but always a gentleman. Jake Lloyd (Mike McCormick) watches everything his Dad does, and Dad uses that as opportunities to teach his son. Every little boy would like to have this type of relationship with his Dad.The townspeople get behind the boat and work hard to "make it happen". This movie reminds us all of a time when life was a little slower and a little simpler. The daily challenges of everyday life are played out well. Take your kid's, make it a family night out. Don't miss this movie, you'll cheer at the end.