boring, no character development, typical nationalist dialog

Rating: 3/10 (21 September 2019)

It's not easy to make car racing look interesting on film, as shots of cars going around corners and faceless drivers shifting gears start to feel pretty repetitive. Though the many scenes of fast driving do add some adrenaline, the film has to rely on a dramatic arc that hinges on the possibility of building a fast car and getting the right driver. Unfortunately this dilemma advances all too predictably, and features static characters in cookie-cutter relationships that feature no real tension and no development whatsoever. The characters are drawn well enough to elicit a few laughs at unexpected juxtapositions, but mostly they just go through the motions, and we literally hear the same overblown lines at the end of the film as we do at the beginning, as though the film wanted to remind viewers that nothing actually happens in between. Some nice period touches and decent turns by some supporting actors working with limited material demonstrate that the filmmakers were at least trying, but the flat relationships and tepid dialog keep things moving at a snooze. Maybe watch it on an airplane if there's nothing better?