Six Pack (film)
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''Six Pack'' is a 1982
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
directed by
Daniel Petrie Daniel Mannix Petrie (November 26, 1920 – August 22, 2004) was a Canadian film director, film, television director, television, and stage director who worked in Canada, Hollywood, and the United Kingdom; known for directing grounded human dram ...
and starring
Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...
,
Diane Lane Diane Colleen Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at age 14 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film ''A Little Romance''. The two films that could have catapulted her to star ...
,
Erin Gray Erin Gray (born January 7, 1950) is an American model, casting agent, and actress whose roles include Colonel Wilma Deering in the science fiction television series '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' and Kate Summers-Stratton in the situation ...
,
Anthony Michael Hall Michael Anthony Hall (born April 14, 1968), known professionally as Anthony Michael Hall, is an American actor best known for his leading role as Johnny Smith in '' The Dead Zone'' from 2002 to 2007. He also rose to fame starring in films with ...
and
Barry Corbin Leonard Barrie Corbin (born October 16, 1940) is an American actor. He is best known for his starring role as Maurice Minnifield on the television series ''Northern Exposure'' (1990–1995), which earned him two consecutive Primetime Emmy Award ...
.


Plot

When race car driver Brewster Baker stops at a gas station in a small Texas town, parts are stolen from his race car. While at a local diner, he sees people stealing parts from another car, so he gives chase. When the thieves' van goes into a river, Brewster rescues them and discovers that they are orphaned children. The kids were stealing for "Big John" the corrupt county sheriff, who jails Brewster for breaking and entering, larceny, resisting arrest and speeding. After the kids help break Brewster out of jail, Brewster reluctantly takes the children with him. They prevent the sheriff from giving chase by loosening many bolts on the car, like those on the doors and hood and the lug nuts. Arriving in Shreveport, L.A., while Brewster is in a bar reacquainting himself with Lilah, the kids steal parts off other cars to reequip his car. He is able to come in fourth in the Dixie 100, but uses most of his winnings paying back the drivers whose car parts the kids took. At the next track in M.S., Breezy distracts Terk while her brothers tinker with his car. A few races later, he tries to get revenge on Brewster and the kids by calling the law on them. As they have formed a friendship and bonded, Brewster breaks them out by impersonating the law. Finally sponsored by Ford, Brewster gets a new car for the Atlanta 500. Lilah surprises him there. Terk and some men jump him, dumping him in the woods. He comes to, hitches a ride, and makes it to the track in time to race. In contention for the win against Terk, he swerves off the track, cutting off the Texas sheriff as he tries to take the kids away. Brewster and Lilah marry, adopting the kids. The end of the movie features real race footage from the 1982
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
Coca-Cola 500, held at
Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series ...
and won that year by
Darrell Waltrip Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author, former national television broadcaster, and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series dur ...
.


Cast


Music

The theme song to the film is "
Love Will Turn You Around ''Love Will Turn You Around'' is the thirteenth studio album by Kenny Rogers, released in 1982. The title cut was the debut single and charted well, reaching #1 on the U.S. and Canadian country charts and adult contemporary charts, and #13 on the ...
", a song performed and co-written by Rogers that was a #1
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and
adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
hit. It peaked at #13 on the pop chart.
Miles Goodman Elliott Miles Goodman (August 27, 1948 – August 16, 1996) was an American composer for television and film. He is best remembered for his frequent collaboration with film director Frank Oz, for whom Goodman scored such films as '' Dirty Rott ...
served as an orchestrator for the film's score.


Box office

The film had a limited release on July 16, 1982, and went wide on July 23, 1982. It proved to be a moderate hit at the box office and grossed over $20 million during its theatrical run.


Reception

Janet Maslin of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in her review, called ''Six Pack'' "good-natured but none-too-interesting" as a typical fable where "orphans find a father, a lonely man finds a good woman, an unsuccessful racer makes good on the comeback trail, and everybody lives unreasonably happily ever after."


Filming locations

Parts of the movie were filmed in
Jefferson, Georgia Jefferson is a city in Jackson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 9,432 at the 2010 census, up from 3,825 at the 2000 census. As of 2019 the estimated population was 12,032. The city is the county seat of Jackson County. History ...
, at
Jefco Speedway Gresham Motorsports Park (formerly Jefco Speedway, Georgia International Speedway and Peach State Speedway) is a half-mile (.8 km) paved oval auto racing track in Jefferson, Georgia. The track opened in 1967, named Jefco Speedway. Tom Pis ...
also known as Georgia International Speedway and Peach State Speedway now known as
Gresham Motorsports Park Gresham Motorsports Park (formerly Jefco Speedway, Georgia International Speedway and Peach State Speedway) is a half-mile (.8 km) paved oval auto racing track in Jefferson, Georgia. The track opened in 1967, named Jefco Speedway. Tom Pisto ...
. Some local Jefferson teens were used as extras in the film. Notable NASCAR racing legends raced at the track such as
Bobby Isaac Robert Vance Isaac (August 1, 1932 – August 14, 1977) was an American stock car racing driver. Isaac made his first NASCAR appearance in 1961, and quickly forged a reputation of one of the toughest competitors of the 1960s and 1970s. He was most ...
, ‘(Tiger Tom)'
Tom Pistone "Tiger" Tom Pistone (born March 17, 1929 in Chicago, Illinois, USA) is a former NASCAR Grand National driver from Chicago. He made his Grand National debut in 1955. He won two races and finished 6th in championship points in the 1959 season for ...
,
Jody Ridley Jody Ridley (born May 19, 1942) is a former NASCAR driver. He won the 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award and one race at Dover International Speedway the next year, the only Cup victory for Donlavey Racing. His career statistics in ...
,
LeeRoy Yarbrough Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough (September 17, 1938 – December 7, 1984) was an American stock car racer. His best season was 1969 when he won seven races, tallied 21 finishes in the top-ten and earned $193,211 ($ when inflation is taken into accoun ...
,
Wendell Scott Wendell Oliver Scott (August 29, 1921 – December 23, 1990) was an American stock car racing driver. He was one of the first African-American drivers in NASCAR and the first African-American to win a race in the Grand National Series, NASCAR's h ...
,
Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series st ...
,
Freddy Fryar Freddy Fryar (February 15, 1935 – April 29, 2020) was an American stock car racing, stock car racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Grand National and Winston Cup Series between 1956 in NASCAR, 1956 and 19 ...
,
Darrell Waltrip Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author, former national television broadcaster, and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series dur ...
,
Alan Kulwicki Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional ...
,
Larry Pearson Larry Pearson (born November 2, 1953) is an American former stock car racing driver and the son of three-time Winston Cup champion David Pearson. He won the Busch Series championship in 1986 and 1987, but struggled during his brief tenure in Wins ...
and
Rusty Wallace Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...
. ‘
Alabama Gang The Alabama Gang was the nickname for a group of NASCAR drivers (and subsequently their offspring) who set up shop and operated out of Hueytown, Alabama (near Birmingham, Alabama). In the late 1950s, young auto racer Bobby Allison left Miami, Flo ...
’ racing legends
Neil Bonnett Lawrence Neil Bonnett (July 30, 1946 – February 11, 1994) was an American NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. Bonnett was a member of the Alabama Gang, and started his career with the help of Bobby an ...
,
Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short track ...
,
Donnie Allison Donnie Allison (born September 7, 1939) is an American former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned from 1966 to 1988. He is part of the "Alabama Gang", and is the bro ...
and
Davey Allison David Carl Allison (February 25, 1961 – July 13, 1993) was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was th ...
. The film crew worked from the Holiday Inn Powers Ferry in
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. At least one scene was filmed in a guest room there. Another scene was filmed at a pub located in a strip mall up the hill from the Holiday Inn. The jail and sheriff car sabotage scenes were filmed in downtown
Buford, Georgia Buford is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett and Hall County, Georgia, Hall counties in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,144. Most of the ...
. The scene with the van going in the river was filmed in
Suwanee, Georgia Suwanee is a city in Gwinnett County and a northeastern suburb of Atlanta in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,355; this had grown to an estimated 20,907 as of 2019. Portions of Forsyth and Fulton counties ...
, at Settles Bridge at the
Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chatta ...
. The movie also features the
bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
memorial sculpture at
Stone Mountain Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome Inselberg, monadnock and the site of Stone Mountain Park, east of Atlanta, Georgia. Outside the park is the small city of Stone Mountain, Georgia. The park is the most visited tourist site in the state o ...
in one scene. The car chase scene was shot on Poplar Springs Road in
Powder Springs, Georgia Powder Springs is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, Cobb County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 13,940 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, with an estimated population for 2019 of 15,758. In 2015, the cit ...
. The wedding scene was shot at McEachearn United Methodist Church in Powder Springs.


Television show

In 1983, there was a spin-off television show of the same name which featured
Don Johnson Donnie Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor, producer and singer. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series ''Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Em ...
as Brewster Baker and
Markie Post Marky or Markie may refer to: Nickname * Marky Cielo (1988–2008), Filipino actor and dancer * Marky Delgado (born 1995), American soccer player * Markie Mark (born 1974), BBC Radio director * Marky Markowitz (1923–1986), American jazz trumpete ...
as Sally Leadbetter. This show also featured
Joaquin Phoenix Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent films. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academ ...
(billed as Leaf Phoenix) in his second role.


Home media

The film was released on VHS on May 19, 1993. It has been released twice on DVD, the first time on April 4, 2006, followed by a second release on July 3, 2012. , the feature has not been released in the digital format.


In popular culture

''Six Pack'' is mentioned prominently in "Breakfast in Dubbo", the ninth chapter of New Zealand-Australian comedian Tony Martin's collection of autobiographical essays, '' Lolly Scramble: A Memoir of Little Consequence'' (2005). In "Breakfast in Dubbo," Martin recounts a lengthy bus trip in
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
that took place in 1986, during which the passengers were given the opportunity to vote for a movie to watch on
video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...
. Passengers were invited to vote for either ''
Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...
'', ''
Beverly Hills Cop ''Beverly Hills Cop'' is a 1984 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Martin Brest, screenplay by Daniel Petrie Jr., story by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr., and starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit cop who ...
'', ''
This is Spinal Tap ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (also known as ''This Is Spınal Tap: A Rockumentary by Martin Di Bergi'') is a 1984 American mockumentary film co-written and directed by Rob Reiner (in his feature directorial debut). The film stars Christopher Guest, M ...
'', or ''Six Pack''. Despite Martin's attempts to drum up support for ''This is Spinal Tap'', the majority of passengers voted to watch ''Six Pack'', to Martin's dismay. Martin recorded a spoken-word version of "Breakfast in Dubbo" which appears as track 27 on the CD '' Get This: Illegal Download'' (2006). ''Six Pack'' is mentioned in the TV show ''
Squidbillies ''Squidbillies'' is an American animated television series created by Jim Fortier and Dave Willis for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. An unofficial pilot for the series aired on April 1, 2005. The series later made ...
'' Season 2 Episode 11 "Terminus Trouble". In the episode, Early Cuyler, his son Rusty, and the Sheriff make a trip to Atlanta, Georgia and visit a location used in the film. In 2019,
Jonathan Davenport Jonathan Lee Davenport (born October 31, 1983), nicknamed Superman, is an American professional dirt track and stock car racing driver. He competes in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, driving the No. 49 for Double L Motorsports, part-time ...
ran a Brewster Baker-inspired paint scheme in dirt late model's biggest race, the
World 100 {{Infobox motor race , Race title = World 100 , Logo = , Track map = , Series long = , Series short = , Venue = Eldora Speedway , Location = ...
at
Eldora Speedway Eldora Speedway (nicknamed "The Big E", "Auto Racing's Showcase Since 1954," and "The World's Greatest Dirt Track") is a high-banked clay dirt oval. Located north of Rossburg, Ohio in the village of New Weston, Ohio, it features permanent and ...
, and won the race. The following year,
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of thr ...
driver
Ty Majeski Tyler B. Majeski (born August 18, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver who mainly competes in late model racing. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 66 Ford F-150 for ThorSport Rac ...
’s truck was wrapped in the style of Brewster's car for the
Southern 500 The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. Fro ...
throwback weekend at
Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located in Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is ...
. The movie was featured on the full Kenny Rogers tribute episode of the ''Disasters In The Making'' podcast in April 2020.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Six Pack (Film) 1982 films 1980s sports comedy-drama films American sports comedy-drama films American auto racing films Country music films Films directed by Daniel Petrie Films scored by Charles Fox Films set in Texas Films set in Atlanta 20th Century Fox films 1982 comedy films 1982 drama films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films