ROTTEN TOMATOES: Ricci Promises Positive Female Role Model in Speed Racer

Ricci Promises Positive Female Role Model in Speed Racer

Trixie to fight, race, and fly.

by Fred Topel | February 04, 2008

We know Speed Racer will be a visual treat with plenty of action, but perhaps it will have good values too. Christina Ricci, who plays Trixie, described all the progressive women's lib stuff she gets to play in the movie.

"Speed Racer was the most fun ever," she said. "That's another example of a great role model character for girls because she's smart, she's funny and she does all the things the boys do. She kung fu fights, she drives a car, she races and she flies a helicopter. But she has a specific outfit that she wears when she flies the helicopter, and her lipstick always matches something she's wearing. She gets to be everything. She's celebrated as a girl and a woman, but she's also not treated any differently than the male characters are. So, it was so much fun, in that respect. I like being dressed up and I like doing stunts."

That specific look also included really short hair, which Ricci resisted. After her requests for a wig were denied, she relented. "It was the Wachowskis. It's Speed Racer. I can always ask for a wig on the second one. You feel like, if you do it once, then you're justified in saying, 'Okay, I did it, and I don't want to anymore.'"

Finished footage of Speed Racer has not only produced the visual thrills one might expect. "A lot of guys were crying at the end of the 15 minute [reel] because there's this real guy-sad thing. Also, every character in it is a very specific, funny character. Mom is always going to have her apron on, and Sparky is going to always be Chaplin-esque and funny, and Mr. Royalton will always be evil. It's just fun. Everything about the movie makes it feel like an event movie, so that's exciting."

Ricci is joined in the Wachowski-rendered Speed Racer by Emile Hirsch as Speed, Matthew Fox as Racer X, John Goodman as Pops, and Susan Sarandon as Mom. Speed will race into theaters May 9, 2008.

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(1-20 of 35 posts) | Reply

Mister_Prophet writes:
on Feb 04 2008 05:40 PM

Yes because if young girls need a good female role model, Speed Racer is the place they should look.

(Reply to this)

DaHypr1 writes:
on Feb 04 2008 06:26 PM

this movie looks like utter crap. thats just what i think though

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vaodsi writes:
on Feb 04 2008 06:30 PM

hahaha. Awesome mister prophet! I like you.

(Was christina ricci that terible boring actress that almost ruined sleepy hollow? maybe it was just because a lot of people look bad next to depp... kiera knightly for instance! (in pirates 2 and 3. she was cool in pirates 1.)

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Jen Yamato writes:
on Feb 04 2008 06:49 PM

Interesting theory about Depp, Vaodsi. Vanessa Paradis still looks pretty good with him though.

As for Speed Racer, I think it looks kinda really awesomely sweet -- at least the racing parts and the candy colors and the sfx. The acting...who knows. Emile Hirsch looked almost sweaty in one of those trailers.

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~*Admiral Snowstorm*~ writes:
on Feb 04 2008 06:50 PM

Gotta agree with Mister_Prophet here. I don't think anyone's watching Speed Racer for heartwarming messages about how women can be just as good as men. If you're into that sort of thing, go watch the Lifetime Channel. Or a good movie with a good female lead.

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vaodsi writes:
on Feb 04 2008 06:58 PM

I agree, Yamato (dang, you've got an awesome last name!). Helena bonham carter (she has a coll name too) holds her own with him, too. and yeah, i think Speedracer looks fun. It looks like artsy and wierd looking (and most of all.... FUN!) entertainment. my ticket is sold.

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Shompy writes:
on Feb 04 2008 07:21 PM

why bash anything about this? it was a nice sentiment for a hopefully fun movie. whatever makes this look like "utter crap" can't possibly be worse than anything in 300

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PornAgainChristian writes:
on Feb 04 2008 07:21 PM

But you don't get it - every movie is now about being a 'positive female role model' by selling a complete myth about women 'being just as good as men' at everything. That's why 'The Hitcher' got remade with some waif model as the hero, why 'The Brave One' got everyone wetting themselves over Jodie Foster killing vigilantes, etc. It's pandering to a demographic based upon our current social position that everything masculine is bad and stupid, and everything feminine is awesome and perfect.

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PornAgainChristian writes:
on Feb 04 2008 07:22 PM

Oops, killing bad guys I mean.

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DaHypr1 writes:
on Feb 04 2008 07:24 PM

In reply to this comment (#1554171)
how can you have any credibility when you say that "this can't be worse than anything in 300?" have you even watched the trailer for this movie? EPIC FAIL.

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jokerboy1991 writes:
on Feb 04 2008 07:26 PM

What I thought she was a great role model in BLACK SNAKE MOAN, JK. I am really looking foward to this, sure its gonna be G or PG- but for once I don't mind. I think ittl be a fun movie, I love the visuals I saw in the trailer. I also think its AUSOME that Matthew Fox is RACER X (Great CHoice), Ricci as TRIXI, and Hirsch is such a perfect fit for SPEED RACER. I wonder if its gonna be a trilogy?

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MarkusCominToGETCHA writes:
on Feb 04 2008 07:47 PM

This movie has the coolest trailer since 300, hopefully theres alot more to it. Great casting in every role. Movie of the summer right here

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TheGreatOne13 writes:
on Feb 04 2008 08:24 PM

ill admit i wasnt impressed with the trailer at all but ill withhold judgement until it gets closer to release time

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Relapse writes:
on Feb 04 2008 10:04 PM

Yeah, girls are too busy melting down their Hannah Montana merchandise for injection directly into their veins to watch this movie.

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Dinobot77 writes:
on Feb 04 2008 10:34 PM

In reply to this comment (#1554242)
Um......"movie of the summer right here"? I don't know what planet you have been living on Markus, but although this movie will be good, it won't be anywhere near the best movie of this year, let-a-lone this summer.

I view this movie in the same context as the Flintstones from a few years back. Only this movie is set in a futuristic world with better direction and a much better script.

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Weicher writes:
on Feb 05 2008 01:36 AM

Jen, no offense, but you liked "Cool as ice".

I mean... it's nice you think this film will sweet and all, but... c'mon, we're talking about the guys who didn't know what to do with the two latter parts of "The Matrix" and who later thrashed "V for Vendetta". So I remain very skeptical about this, despite the fact that Emille Hirsch is playing the lead.

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~*Admiral Snowstorm*~ writes:
on Feb 05 2008 03:48 AM

V for Vendetta wasn't that bad. I'll give you the latter end of the Matrix trilogy, though. The Wachowskis are, in my opinion, hit and miss directors. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they fail. Because of their uneven track record, I'm not going to make too many predictions about Speed Racer.

But I am on the same page as PornAgainChristian. That's the problem with most remakes today; they try to give women more noticeable and stronger roles when the originals worked fine without that. I'm not trying to be misogynistic, but really, did anyone disrespect Geena Davis in The Fly or Shelley Duvall in The Shining for their roles? They may not have been action heros or 'equally as good as the men in their movies', but we all liked them in their roles (well, most people liked Shelley Duvall. Personally, I thought she was pretty good.). Indeed, Geena Davis was more or less the star once Jeff Goldblum really started going downhill, and even before that you could tell that she was a confident and capable woman. That's what I'd like to see more of, really. Women who are normal women, women who don't bludgeon you over the head with the fact that they're women and just play the roles normally. Movies that do that are movies that have 'good, positive female role models'.

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Weicher writes:
on Feb 05 2008 04:18 AM

In reply to this comment (#1554578)
Hi there. V for Vendetta works... up to a certain point (at least is a watchable, tightly plotted film). But, unfortunately, is really far inferior to the comic-book (I hate the term "graphic novel"). Why? Because the Wachowskys didn't respect the source material. For example, they portrayed Ivy in such a drastically different way to the book that it made the character unbelievable. Stephen Rea's character? Dull. What a way of ruining a great character and a great actor.

And where is the post-apocallyptic, dirty, nihilistic tone of the book in the film? Nowhere. It is in "Children of men", though. Alfonso Cuaron should have directed this movie (as David Lynch should have helmed "From hell", in my opinion).

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Elixor writes:
on Feb 05 2008 05:13 AM

I know I sound like a Wachowski bros die-hard (which I'm not), but I really liked V for Vendetta and the latter two Matrix Movies. I wasn't into the latter two Matrix movies the first time I saw them, but once you watch them enough and understand what's going on, the story is quite good. It's because of these movies that I'll be giving Speed Racer a chance.

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Ashron writes:
on Feb 05 2008 06:40 AM

Why does everybody seem to forget that the Wachowskis did not direct V for Vendetta? They produced it. James McTiegue directed it. Big difference there.

That being said, I liked V. But then, I didn't read the comic, so I had no expectations.

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