'Gran Turismo' review: Ingenious fun as the player becomes a racer

The visual exterior of Neill Blomkamp's “Gran Turismo” video game adaptation mimics that of a racing car: shiny, colorful, chrome. This film has real surface appeal, being based on the remarkable true story of Jann Mardenborough, an English gamer and fan of the “Gran Turismo” driving simulator (considered here to be the most accurate), who won a driving contest sponsored by Nissan. academy and has since become a successful racing driver, on real tracks, not virtual ones. But pop the hood on this bad boy, and there's an undeniable cynicism underpinning this vehicle. A movie about a publicity stunt is still just a publicity stunt.

If you start to take apart this moving, yet formulaic, sports movie, everything will fall apart. (One might even question the value of gas-guzzling motorsports and why we would celebrate them on screen today.) “Gran Turismo” tries to get ahead of the cowardly capitalism that is exhibited with the knowledge of Orlando Bloom. Rendering of Nissan marketing executive Danny Moore (a version of GT Academy founder Darren Cox). Bloom, and the screenplay by Jason Hall, Zach Baylin and Alex Tse, positions Danny as smart but smarmy: an innovative innovator with visions of “untapped demographics” dancing in his head.

Danny flashes a shark-like grin at Nissan executives as he describes the gamers in whom “Gran Turismo” has “ignited a passion for driving.” He draws up the plan for the player-to-racer driving academy, and while a win is a win, he still wants the most camera-ready driver behind the wheel of the first Nissan Motorsports vehicle, even if he's not quite ready for the track. Danny is a bit of an antagonist, allowing the audience to mock his business-oriented motivation while also knowing that this entire movie effort is intended to be an advertisement for the game “Gran Turismo” and Nissan cars. .

The fastest driver in the academy is a tall, quiet boy from Cardiff, Wales, the son of a former footballer, who is searching for his purpose in life. Archie Madekwe plays Jann, a determined driving enthusiast with a shy charm, and if “Gran Turismo” works, it is due to Madekwe's performance, as well as the gruff, no-nonsense presence of David Harbor as Jack Salter, a former racing driver and engineer. used to train players.

As a purely mechanical, fast-paced piece of entertainment, “Gran Turismo” really works. Audience members will raise their hands in full-throated applause every time Jann climbs a little higher in the rankings, such is the appeal of Madekwe's heartfelt performance. Blomkamp (“District 9”) lays out what is at stake with simple but effective visual storytelling. He uses the saturated color palette to allow us to easily locate Jann and his enemies in the race, while he puts the game's iconography and graphics to work to illustrate how Jann sees the track, thanks to his hours in the game. simulator.

The script is typical of a sports movie without much subtext. In the mouth of anyone other than Harbour, some of these motivational lines would be real noise, but he sells the material with his gruff poignancy, and there's real chemistry between him and Madekwe, as the unlikely sports star and his demanding coach. . Djimon Hounsou plays Jann's father, and it's a fantastic and emotional role for the actor, as the father who doesn't understand his daughter's dream. And yes, that's Geri Halliwell Horner, aka Ginger Spice, playing Jann's mother. Fun fact: The real Mardenborough also acts as a double driver for his character in the film.

“Gran Turismo” can be compared to another recent racing film, “Ford v Ferrari,” and not just because both films climax at the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Both films are also stories of personal determination, individual achievement and overcoming obstacles, but they are inextricably linked to the desire to sell more cars. These inspiring stories have capitalist ends and origins, but of course, that's the business of motorsports, already saturated with sponsorships, product placement and advertising.

The “Gran Turismo” writers don't try to interrogate the business, and why would they? In the end, as entertaining as the film is, it feels like a custom sports car wrap: simply an advertisement slapped onto Mardenborough's unique journey to the track.

Katie Walsh is a film critic for the Tribune News Service.