You have to wade through a great deal of treacle in GRAN TURISMO before you get to part of the film that really works. Based (very loosely) on the true story of the gamer who became a race car driver, the first act plays like a very well executed cliché, albeit with a superbly edited racing sequence. That superb editing remains as the predictable tropes of this fairy tale story fall away, and the real drama begins.
Fortunately, getting through that treacle is helped enormously by the highly appealing Archie Madekwe as Jann Mardenborough. He’s the hard-luck kid from Wales who spent his days and nights playing the eponymous video game (he would insist on calling it a racing simulator) much to the chagrin of his father (Djimon Hounsou), an ex-soccer player who would like him to go outside occasionally, and the ribbing of his younger brother (Daniel Puig), who is following in his father’s footsteps. But Jann has a dream to one day drive for real, and when an oddly sweaty Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom), Nissan Marketing VP in the UK, comes up with what can best be described as a harebrained scheme, the stars align for Jann. Said scheme is designed to create a new market for Nissan cars by tapping a hitherto ignored demographic. That would be the gamers who live to play GT. Moore will find the best players, have them compete against one another, and the last one standing gets a shot at the big leagues, as it were, of professional racing.
The stars also align for Jack Salter (David Harbour), an ex-driver now relegated to being a sardonic mechanic for the villain of the piece, the gold-helmeted Nicholas Capa, played by Josha Stradowski who takes smarmy to refined sociopathic heights as the indulged and petulant scion of an uber-wealthy family. That Jack was Danny’s last choice is true to the hoary plotting of this first act. As is Jann confiding why he loves racing to his crush (Maeve Courtier-Lilley) on the night before his life changes. As is having him race from his day job to compete in the first part of the competition.
Naturally, Jann is one of the 20 selected to compete IRL IRCars under Jack’s grudging tutelage. Naturally, Jann irritates Jack in their first conversation. Naturally there is a personal rivalry with a cocky fellow contestant (that fails to gain traction). Naturally, Jann has to come from behind to make the final five, and then win the final race that will secure him a spot on Team Nissan and the chance to compete as a professional. Don’t worry, the film is just getting started and the worst is over.
Excise that section, or at least put it from your mind because from here it not only gets interesting, it gets exciting. Jann, unbeatable in the sim, now has to contend with a racing world that sneers at him. Even his own crew, Jack warns, wants no part of him. Madekwe has a vulnerability that is endearing, coupled with the strength necessary to stay in the game even while registering the emotional rollercoaster involved in the process. Winning the race against the other gamers is merely the stepping off point, and the grueling realities of professional racing, and the equally grueling training from Jack continues in order to get Jann past the new obstacles. Harbour here is excellent in a quietly gruff performance that refuses to be likable even when being funny. As with the champagne reserved for the winner’s podium, his respect and his friendship has to be earned. So good is Harbour that despite the bland predictability of the first part, you can’t be quite sure that his character will ever come around, making the relationship between the two dicey and unpredictable.
It’s the racing, though, that elevates the proceedings. Sound design and visuals are cut together with lighting shifts that encompass the inner workings of the car putting several Gs on Jann, as well as the stratagems involved in passing other drivers. If some mishaps are ham-handedly telegraphed before a race begins, it does nothing to lessen the masterful sequences that present them in the slow-motion of consciousness reacting to a catastrophe. Throw in the increasingly desperate stakes Jann is facing, and the result is a tidy action flick that ticks all the right boxes. Plus, there’s something irresistibly surreal about the way Harbour delivers a line about the normalcy of cars exploding during a race to calm Jann after he witnesses same for the first time.
GRAN TURISMO may be a two-hour or so commercial for the game that propelled Jann into the big leagues. Yet, after it finds its footing, it’s a very enjoyable one thanks to Madekwe’s wide-eyed wonder and infectious determination to live his dream. Fast-paced when it finally revs up, and darn if it doesn’t get you cheering.
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