The ultimate wish fulfillment tale of a teenage Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won him a series of Nissan competitions to become an actual professional racecar driver.
Fans of movies about the little guy who comes out on top will want to pop the champagne for director Neill Blomkamp‘s “Gran Turismo” and its perfectly formulated underdog narrative. While it’s based on a true story about car racing and video games, no knowledge of either is necessary to enjoy Blomkamp’s crowd-pleasing, feel-good film that will appeal to just about everyone on planet Earth.
This biographical sports drama tells the fact-based story of Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), a teenager who turned his love of the Sony PlayStation racing simulator game Gran Turismo into an actual career as a race car driver. Jann’s gaming skills led him to be selected in an exclusive Nissan competition that selected the best “drivers” to get a shot at training to become a real-life professional racer at their exclusive GT Academy.
The film plays fast and loose with the facts of Mardenborough’s life, and it’s better not to spoil any of them by reading his biography beforehand. (Even if you check out his story afterward, be warned that you’re going to be disappointed). Does perfect accuracy really matter, though? By rewriting and a bit of history, the screenplay paints a touching portrait not only of the drive, determination, and conviction of one young man who was told he’d likely amount to nothing, but also into the exhilarating world of racing.
One of the movie’s strengths is its swift pacing, as Blomkamp manages to fit volumes of story into a short amount of time. What’s even better is that Mardenborough is a likeable kid who is made into a character that is effortless to root for, from the start of his journey at home to his success as a race car driver. He’s a terrific role model who is respectful, hard working, and passionate (but watch out for kids getting their own big ideas that they can turn a love of video games into a profitable career).
There’s a nice balance of drama and action, too. The portrayal of Jann’s relationships with his own former soccer star father Steve (Djimon Hounsou) and father figure / racing mentor Jack Salter (David Harbour) are genuinely touching to the point that you may wonder why someone is cutting onions nearby. The well-executed racing scenes are exciting, and there are plenty of crashes and near-misses that give the film bursts of action at near-perfect intervals. Every element of the movie seems like it was meticulously planned to offer maximum appeal, and it’s one of those rare projects that succeeds on every level.
There is likely going to be much criticism and pushback on the overt commercialism presented in the film, but that’s the world of racing for you. There are major corporate sponsors everywhere in the sport, from the exterior of the team cars to the uniforms of the drivers, and those logos are certainly in your face here. It’s realistic, but also packed with countless brand names. (One of the main characters, Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom), is a marketing executive at Nissan, and he never misses a chance to talk about how great his cars are). What’s amazing is that this is the only nitpicking I can find with this film.
“Gran Turismo” is an all-around terrific sports biopic with an emotional richness that goes full throttle. It’s inspirational, sentimental (but never corny), and sincere, proving that dreams really do come true.
