Generic, Often Lazy, With Striking Visuals And Race Sequences

Rating: 7/10 (13 April 2020)

I did not receive the gene that fires interest in cars. I do not drive; I have no passion, not one iota for cars and engines and mechanics. I don't understand them and don't particularly want to do so. Which is why this film had little attraction for me.
But it was Easter weekend, and it was on cheap to rent, and at wife's recommendation (who had seen it in the cinema), we watched it. I still have no interest in cars and engines, having watched it. There were parts of the dialogue I didn't understand a word of - or more correctly, I understood most of the words, but not the order they were used in. Those parts of the script I did understand seemed often to be lazy and far too much on the nose. Christian Bale's performance is odd to the point of being unintentionally laughable; replete with Mary Poppins-like Britishisms which sound out of place even coming from this British actor, whose accent in this film is hard to take seriously. On the other hand, Matt Damon is quietly brilliant, very possibly his best performance in many years; unshowy, subtle and investing his character with a depth the script never reaches.
There remain other inadequacies in the film: a ludicrous brawl between the two lead characters, and a pathetic reduction of women to roles which support or prop-up the men, peering through curtains, fetching drinks, adorning visuals. Why are cars always referred to in the feminine? It became more obvious to me here; because it enables the men who drive them and build them to continue to exploit them and shape them around their needs the way they do with women in their lives.
In the end, this is little more than a genre sports film, following all of the standard story beats of sports films to a conclusion I knew was coming as a sports fan with only a very passing knowledge of motorsport. It's a true story, but no less generic for it. But it does work - motorsports are the most cinematic of sports, not least because we have much of the film grammar of them drilled into us by car chases and the like. The racing scenes are adrenalised, gripping and alarming - the louder your sound system and the larger your screen, the more you'll enjoy them. They are beautifully directed; and throughout the whole film, the cinematography is subtle but strikingly beautiful. There's much to enjoy and entertain, perfect for a holiday weekend. But it will fade from the memory quickly, the only lingering question being why it garnered so much attention on cinematic release at the expense of far superior films from female directors.