Here is a family movie with a terrific story! John Schneider is excellent as Jim Klecan, a Viet Nam veteran who won the Eagle Rock Derby Championship as a boy and who winds up coaching young Bobby Graham (Dylan McLaughlin). McLaughlin does a wonderful job as young Bobby, a boy who has lost his father and mother and arrives in Eagle Rock to live with his Uncle Jeff (Jason Brooks) and Aunt Gayle (Kate Connor). His uncle wants Bobby to work at the hardware store but he doesn’t understand Bobby’s dream of racing a car in the local Soap Box Derby. He refuses to help Bobby and Bobby winds up lying to his uncle, telling him he is going to baseball practice when in reality he becomes friends with the (at first) crotchety Jim Klecan. The boys at school have heard that Jim, a recluse, has a collection of skulls and is a dangerous man. But Bobby learns there is another side to Jim and a reason he is sometimes cranky.

Bobby’s determination to get Jim to look at his soap box car designs leads to a friendship between Jim and Bobby but eventually Bobby has to come clean with his uncle and tell him that he and Jim have worked together on building a car, and he is scheduled to race in the upcoming derby. Will Uncle Jeff allow Bobby to continue building the car, and to race for the 1976 Eagle Rock Championship? Does Bobby have a shot at winning the race? This awesome movie features upbeat themes such as going for one’s dream and the importance of forgiveness and not judging someone until you get to know him or her. Your family has got a friend in this movie, a family-friendly-film which earns five Doves from us, our highest rating. Watch it soon with your family and remember to dream a little bit as you do.