Unfortunately, if you’re a fan of racing “GRAN TURISMO” from director Neill Blomkamp will probably not be your film as you can see the glaring holes in this too-good-to-be-true story of a gamer who becomes a race car driver overnight by winning a contest. Now I don’t mind liberties taken with films, but outright untruths are ridiculous. Things like no practice, no qualifying, how many clutch gear-changes were shown when these haven’t been used in race cars for decades! Again, don’t try to fool real race fans this badly.

The real Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), wasn’t from the first class of GT Academy SIM winners to have gone from gamer to actual racing and he was not part of the Nissan team to get a podium win. Lucas Ordóñez from Spain was – and he raced for Nissan in 2009, as well as secured a podium win on his first ever event competition. In reality – Mardenborough was one of the winners of the GT Academy competition in 2011 and that same year, became eligible to race on actual cars. He had already competed in seven professional events so by that time, so he joined the Nissan team in 2013. Essentially, the entire movie’s emphasis on raw talent making it big overnight makes you feel like some random kid can win a game and become a pro-race driver – something that takes years of hard work and yes, loads of time and money. But those are the pesky facts and the issue for me personally as a Formula 1 racing fan with the taking of such dramatic license is that the viewer shouldn’t be this mislead that a video game simulator player can just transition so quickly to real life racing when in factual life, it would be completely unsafe and unrealistic.

Now that that my pesky facts are out of the way, let’s get into the film itself. A lot of the action sequences in the first half were disappointingly brief. The entirety of the first act and parts of the second seemed somewhat disorganized, transitioning quickly from scene to scene, giving the impression that they were rushing through story elements, almost as if they were trying to quickly check off various plot points to hurry towards the uplifting part of the narrative. The racing was a mixed bag, at times absorbing you in how intense it was but often it felt like some races ended too abruptly. Of course, it’s impossible to show an entire race within a movie’s scope, yet for the pivotal races, the execution was still fairly good and it got better by the end. Once the movie finds its heart and essence, you’re drawn in more, not just the thrill of the action but also the emotional resonance. As for the CGI, the intention is clearly behind giving it a gaming vibe, but still a little unsure about it for the racing as other films have done it better.

David Harbour as Jack Salter brings to the table his best Christian Horner (Red Bull) & Toto Wolff (Mercedes Benz), impersonations here and delivers a fairly strong performance, with the interactions between him and Jann standing out more than the racing scenes in some parts. Although David’s acting was good throughout, Madewake was his best when they were sharing the screen at the middle point of the film – in the beginning, his gaming acting was on the cheesy, annoying side, but he picked it up as the character became more rounded out. Djimon Hounsou as Jann’s dad Steve Mardenborough is sadly lackluster throughout, but to be honest, he wasn’t given the proper material. The character of Danny Moore – team executive/recruiter is played by Orlando Bloom – and while Bloom has never been Oscar worthy, this performance is a new low and brings the film down another grade notch to film adding to a few other lackluster performances within it.  A few of highlights were none other than Ginger Spice herself, Geri Halliwell aka Geri Horner – yes, that Christian Horner’s real-life wife and here she plays wife/mother Lesley Mardenborough. A few other notables supporting roles are Takehiro Hira, Darren Barnet, and Daniel Puig as Jann’s brother Colby.

Josha Stradowski as racing rival Nicholas Capa, was decent enough, seemingly tailor-made for the role of an egotistic douchebag. Apart from David Harbour, much of the cast seemed to be underused, particularly Bloom and Hounsou. Djimon, a good actor, could have been better utilized if the father character had been more effectively written, allowing for a deeper dive of the family dynamic. The film touches on a few things but only scratches the surface; like the beef with the rich guys portrayed as the story’s antagonists, although the film really wasn’t the kind of film that truly needed an outright villain so another failed dramatic license taken. Without all this, it could have freed up more time to concentrate on aspects like the father-son relationship, which had a pivotal moment that didn’t have the desired impact due to insufficient emotional buildup.

The movie as well, does take a while to establish its rhythm and pacing but once it finds its footing, it can be enjoyable at moments. Despite solid performances, the movie lacks conviction and feels like an overblown ad for PlayStation and/or Gran Turismo games It’s a shame the producers decided to also mish mash the true events and true racing talents to give us this composite. And yes, the film does feel a bit like a ‘Rocky-on-the-racetrack kinda movie – only ‘Rocky’ was Oscar worthy.

Grade: C-

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“GRAN TURISO” FROM SONY PICTURES IS OUT IN THEATERS FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 2023

Review Screening: Monday, August 7,2023 ~ Courtesy of Sony Pictures