If you’ve ever played a race car simulator game, this film puts you in the driver’s seat in the theater hitting the gas and brake along with a driver, holding your breath at every turn. There are a few too many races in this film, but it still manages to be exciting, especially if you like driving cool, fast cars.
This docufeature is based on the true story of a young British kid, Jann Mardenborough, who was obsessed with the need for speed at 5, incessantly practicing and competing on a Playstation simulator hours on end. Credit goes to Director Neill Blomkamp and the special effects team who created a bit of magic animating a race car around British actor Archie Madekwe (Midsummer, Voyagers TV series), as he feverishly played the Gran Turismo game incessantly. Archie’s working class parents, Steve and Lesley (Dijon Hounsou and Geri Horner) hoped he’d grow out of it and go to university. But that wasn’t Jann’s dream.
Madekwe never drove in his life and didn’t even have a license when he was cast as Jann, the gutsy driver who competed against the best in the world. Archie didn’t even have a license. After finally getting it, it was 8 months more working with a trainer and stuntman learning how handle a powerful Nissan race car. In actuality, the real Jann helped train Archie and performed some of the driving!
Nissan marketing exec, Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) wanted to get young kids hooked on Nissan cars and created the contest aimed at the driving game loving demo. The prize was a chance to get behind the wheel of race car for real, and compete on the international racing circuit. Bloom could have been more exciting in the role.
Knowing how good Jann was at the game, brother Coby (Daniel Puig) encourages his sibling to go for it. He was a long shot, but, of course, he wins the contest and the rest of the movie is getting him with the right trainer to get him ready for the big time.
Danny hires veteran driver and trainer Jack Salter (David Harbour – Stranger Things) to make a race car driver out of the young enthusiast. Salter is reluctant, thinking it’s a joke, but he finally gives it a try. Harbour is excellent showing the tough love relationship they develop, but most of the film becomes race after race that the real Jann drove with several failures on his learning curve.
The other drivers in the film include Other drivers include and Josha Stradowski as Nicholas Capa, the most resentful driver who tried to humiliate Archie at every turn because he didn’t think he belonged on the track. Akira Akiba plays another competitor Jann has to try to beat, Pepe Barroso, And Jann has an enthusiastic love interest, Lilley (Audrey- Maeve Courtier) there to encourage his determination to become a real racer.
Credit editors Austyn Daines and Colby Parker Jr. for the visual tempo they create in each race. And they superimpose animated pins to the cars to show who’s in what place and who’s leading as they drive. The editing makes you feel as if you’re in the car with Jann. Madekwe admitted being unnerved having separate ear pieces from the director and the stunt supervisor while keeping his eye on the road to shoot the driving scenes. Captured well by Cinematographer Jacques Jouffret, but Madekwe threw up after shooting every sequence.
The devastating crash scene was skillfully crafted using slo-mo with silence leading to the ear-piercing crunch of metal hurtling onto the ground in real time, waiting for the outcome. We gasped at the very effective heart-stopping sequence.
Based on true events, the outcome is predictable. Director Neill Blomkamp recreates exciting racing scenes but they become rather repetitive. The saving grace is the bond created by Archie Madekwe and David Harbour that gets this vehicle over the finish line.
Columbia Pictures. 2 hour 15 minutes. PG-13
Related posts:
Ford v Ferrari
Knives Out Writer/Director Rian Johnson talks about having the whole cast on the set
Ford v Ferrari Stunt Coordinator, Robert Nagle
Interview with Waves stars Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Taylor Russell and Writer/Director Trey Edward Shults talking teen angst, family and sound design.
THE CAMPERS AT THE SUNDANCE PREMIERE OF CRIP CAMP: A DISABILITY REVOLUTION TALK ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE AND THE FILM.
Logan Lucky
