“Trading Paint” was released in 2019. (same year Avengers: Endgame came out) It was critically panned by critics and failed to make enough money at the box office. This movie along with The Fanatic also starring John Travolta, earned a Razzie Award for “Worst Actor.” Both films flushed John’s career down the toilet yet again.
When I first heard The Razzies handpicked John as a winner for Worst Actor for his performances in The Fanatic & Trading Paint, I was curious to see the latter. I’m gonna come clean, one of my hobbies is to watch fast cars since “The Fast & The Furious” franchise got me into racing.
Today’s review contains several SPOILERS. If you’ve haven’t seen the movie yet, read at your own risk.
Fast & Slow Aspects
Fast: Michael Madsen did a solid job for his performance.
Kevin Dunn also did a solid job for his performance as well.
Fun Fact: This is the closest thing for both John Travolta & Michael Madsen collaborating together. They were gonna be in a Quentin Tarantino project reprising their roles as Vincent & Vic Vega in “The Vega Brothers.” Quentin confirmed both characters are related. Don’t believe me, Google it,
Slow: John Travolta’s performance as Sam Munroe felt underwhelming. I’m not used to him speaking in a southern accent.
Michael Madsen’s character is named, Linsky. Whenever I hear that name, I think of Monica Lewinsky. Cue Bill Clinton saying, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”
Poor Cinematography with some shots containing Shaky Cam. Why can’t anybody hold a camera still? It’s not hard.
I have no clue why Shania Twain wanted to be in this movie as a love interest. Was she trying to earn a quick paycheck to pay her mortgage?
The film’s title doesn’t make any gosh darn sense. It sounds like a rejected spin-off of “Trading Spouses.”
The story lacks emotional investment. I never cared about Sam attempting to reconcile with his son.
Chemistry between John & Shania’s characters felt stiff. I never cared for them.
The dramatic conflict between Sam and his son never kept me interested.
John’s hairpiece is fake like his other hairstyle from The Fanatic.
I can’t believe I’m saying this as an individual with an interest of fast cars, Trading Paint is an absolute snore fest with no compelling storyline to follow easily for the viewer to understand to see the main protagonist going Point A to Point B linked to a dramatic conflict.
Racing Scenes felt stale. Each race is set at night. There’s no variation to alternate between day and night. The racing scene from “Grease” took place during the afternoon and it still holds up to this day.
The film ends with a cheesy freeze-frame. I tend to make fun of this cliche by pretending to be a narrator of a soap opera. I prefer a movie to end by cutting to black or traditionally fade to black.
The Final Verdict: F, FOR FAKER!
Trading Paint is a misguided cluster fudge described as a poor man’s version of “Days Of Thunder,” It lacks emotional stakes, compelling characters, a storyline to follow easily, performances were weak, romantic chemistry didn’t feel quite right among a few things wrong with this movie. The only good thing were Michael Madsen Kevin Dunn’s performances. Too bad they didn’t save it.
If you want to watch a proper film about racing, my personal picks are “Talladega Nights: The Ballard Of Ricky Bobby,” “Days Of Thunder” & “Logan Lucky.” Trust me, you’ll get a kick out of em.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 