The father died of a stroke from a weakened blood vessel in the brain. Now Costner fears that Grant may have the same condition. He takes him to Madison and runs him through a series of tests, which do indeed indicate the family condition. Then he decides not to tell him, and the two brothers set out by van to compete in the "Hell of the West" race in Colorado. Meanwhile, we meet Costner's girl friend (Rae Dawn Chong) and along the way they pick up a hitchhiker (Alexandra Paul) who pairs off with Grant.
The race then becomes several showdowns. The brothers must compete against the other racers and also against the shadow of death. Their main competition comes from a mean SOB named Muzzin (Luca Bercovici), who used to be married to Rae Dawn Chong. The race is run in three stages, and in the second stage, the older brother begins to bleed from the nose and lose his orientation. So then it's up to the kid brother to win the race.
That leaves us with certain problems:
1. Does the older brother have the family condition, or only a nosebleed? I ask because after the frightening scene where he loses control and almost dies, he is taken, not to a hospital, but to his hotel room.
2. Is Muzzin as mean as he seems? I ask because he is cruel to Chong early in the movie and threatens to make her boy friend "bleed." Then, after Costner's illness, he is tender toward Chong and she is sweet toward him. Then he tries to kill Grant.
3. What's with the mother? Since we never know what she did - or didn't - do during her husband's last weeks, we don't know how to read her. But she turns up for the finish of the race and there is a reconciliation that is happy or not, depending on issues we don't understand.
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