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Madison (2002)

tomatometer

29

Average Rating: 4.4/10
Reviews Counted: 31
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 22

A pedictable and heavy-handed sports drama.

21

Average Rating: 4.3/10
Critic Reviews: 14
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 11

A pedictable and heavy-handed sports drama.

audience

54

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 1,367

My Rating

Movie Info

Based upon a true story, Madison is a father-son drama based on the highly publicized efforts in Madison, IN, during the hydroplane racing season of 1971. Jim McCormick (James Caviezel) has left behind his life of hydroplane boat racing to settle down and start a family and take a job as an air-conditioner repairman. Though he tries to embrace his new life, he still longs for his racing days, and the boat has become the town laughing stock. The town has also experienced harsh financial strain

PG, 1 hr. 39 min.

Sports & Fitness, Drama

Scott Bindley

Sep 13, 2005

$0.5M

MGM

Cast

All Critics (37) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (9) | Rotten (22) | DVD (4)

You've seen a movie that has the exact same scene after scene and the sport's just been different.

April 25, 2005 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | Comment
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A stubbornly up-with-people schmaltzfest, it's the kind of corn that gives angst a good name.

April 22, 2005 Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | Comment
Newark Star-Ledger
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There isn't a scene, an action or a character that rings true, yet the narrative summary of the events that inspired it is a matter of record.

April 22, 2005 Full Review Source: New York Daily News | Comment
New York Daily News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Madison brings us the news that miracles really can happen, and an apparent case of divine intervention is the only reason this artifact is being dumped into theaters.

April 22, 2005 Comment
New York Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

What is it about Indiana that inspires movies about small-town dreamers who come from behind to win?

April 21, 2005 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Near-comic predictability, 'What else could go wrong?' plotting and cliche-ridden screenplay sink it.

April 21, 2005 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

...the film's storyline follows an exceedingly familiar trajectory.

October 22, 2005 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
Reel Film Reviews

As the clichés mount up, it's easy to see why the film has been waiting for a release since 2001.

April 29, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Journal International | Comment
Film Journal International

Madison only reinforces stereotypes that 'old-fashioned' and 'small-town' mean 'good' while 'modern' and 'big city' mean 'bad.'

April 26, 2005 Comment

It is done with such sincerity and good feeling that I found myself far more interested in the proceedings that I could have possibly expected.

April 25, 2005 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

Unembarrassed with its rah-rah populism, the movie is definitely anti-cynicism, and often quite enjoyable in its sincerity.

April 22, 2005 Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | Comment

Even though it's based on a true story, writer-director William Bindley and his cowriting brother, Scott, manage to squeeze just about every sports-movie cliché ever invented into this tale.

April 22, 2005 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A touching, spirited family movie that, in the Rocky tradition, is about a sports challenge that represents the hopes and aspirations of characters with little reason to expect success.

April 22, 2005 Full Review Source: Seattle Times | Comment
Seattle Times

Direct, folksy, more than a bit boosterish, the movie pulls you along to the wow finish.

April 22, 2005 Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | Comment
San Diego Union-Tribune

This one's a little soggy.

April 22, 2005 Full Review Source: E! Online | Comment
E! Online

The sport deserves a much better movie.

April 21, 2005 Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Comment
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Madison

I grew up near Madison, Indiana, lived there briefly and spent a lot of time there - so this movie is kind of special to me for those reasons. Other than that it's not really very good.

April 27, 2007
FilmFanatik
Tim Salmons

Super Reviewer

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 and how driver Jim McCormick struggled to lead Madison's community-owned racing boat, the Miss Madison, into the race. But the movie largely focuses

November 11, 2007
StaisilD
Danielle S

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