Roadracers

Roadracers (1994) is a made-for-TV action picture directed by Robert Rodriguez — watch it online on iFILM. David Arquette plays Dude Delaney, a guitar-playing drifter loose in a small American town in the late 1950s. Salma Hayek plays his girlfriend Donna, and John Hawkes turns up as Nixer, Dude's B-movie-obsessed best friend.

Two enemies close in at once. Teddy, the local heavy with a muscle car and a badge for a father, has no use for outsiders. The sheriff himself, played by William Sadler, is just as determined to run Dude out. Street races and back-alley showdowns pile up until a final confrontation that somebody isn't walking away from.

Rodriguez made the film for Showtime's short-lived "Rebel Highway" anthology series with almost nothing in the budget and a clear affection for the era's grease-and-chrome energy. At 95 minutes it moves fast and wastes nothing. Stream Roadracers (1994) online on iFILM.