Premier Of "25 Hill" Lifts Hopes For Akron's Soap Box Derby

The movie, largely shot in the Akron area about The Soap Box Derby is finally out, opening to a big crowd.

OK, I am gonna have to say it looks like they laid it on thick. Kid, who's dad was killed in Afghanistan hooks up with bitter old man who's son died in the World Trade Center--and after a long.....barf. I guess, I just can't quite buy that this is a great movie.

Still, I can't help feeling that The Derby itself, is a great event which taps into a very deep American love of fun, invention and can do spirit. The film is also the product of lots of local North East Ohio backers who believed in the project and it's potential to draw more support and attention to a struggling Akron tradition.

IMHO, this is still a greatly under leveraged brand which fits so closely with the recent revival of Do It Yourself culture.