Also in theaters: Serving sport on the side

By STEVE PERSALL
Published August 18, 2005

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The motorcycle racers of Supercross (PG-13) jumped the gun on the weekend box office chase by opening in theaters Wednesday. But two extra days probably won't make much difference, given the film's limited audience appeal.

Supercross is aimed at the extreme sports crowd that, judging from TV ratings for X Games competition, isn't large enough to make any movie a hit. Steve Boyum's film is just another example of Hollywood capitalizing on youthful tastes that baby boomer executives don't fully comprehend. Young turks appreciating such revolutionary sports won't fall for such obvious cliches.

Two brothers (Mike Vogel, Steve Howey) are still mourning their father's death when evidence suggests that foul play was involved. Pursuing the killers conveniently dovetails with the annual Las Vegas Motocross Championships, so you can bet that the brothers become hell on wheels Hardy boys. That allows Boyum to pad his movie with race footage and motorcycle stunts. Since the brothers are cute, they can fool around with hotties Cameron Richardson and Sophia Bush between clues and qualifying heats.

Twentieth Century Fox planned to show Supercross to critics Wednesday night, then moved up the release date. Maybe those extra two days before reviews can be published is what Fox was hoping for all along.