If practice is what it takes to get to Carnegie Hall, whatβs required to make it to Le Mans?
Thatβs the premise behind βGran Turismo,β a based-in-fact drama about a teenage gamer who longs to be a race car driver but doesnβt have the connections.
When the gameβs makers offer up an opportunity, Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) gets into the competition, much to his fatherβs dismay. Dad (Djimon Hounsou), like many fathers, thinks gaming is a waste of time and wonβt lead to anything.
Still, the kid earns a spot in the GT Academy, a training facility that plays right into the hands of the folks behind Gran Turismo. To prove as much, the public relations guy (noisily played by Orlando Bloom) rubs his hands at every turn, hoping this stunt will double sales of the game. A βrealβ driver (played by βStranger Thingsββ David Harbour) has doubts anyone can do it but agrees to coach Jann to the starting lineup.
Archie Madekwe and David Harbour star in "Gran Turismo."Β Β
Naturally, thereβs a lot of βRockyβ in this film and a series of βreally?β situations that make the βtrue storyβ label a bit suspicious.
Still, director Neill Blomkamp keeps the film moving and puts his leading man in plenty of white-knuckle situations. An accident happens, even though it wasnβt in the time frame that βGran Turismoβ suggests. Instead, it adds to the βwill he or wonβt he?β feel and gives dad a moment to regret his decision to let the kid follow his dream.
Interestingly, Spice Girl Geri Halliwell-Horner plays Jannβs mom in a low-key Imelda Staunton way. She doesnβt get the outbursts Hounsou does but sheβs there for the moments that matter. A girlfriend is, too, even though Blomkamp doesnβt track the relationship as closely as he should.
Instead, βGran Turismoβ borrows a little from βTop Gun,β βBend it Like Beckhamβ and βFord vs. Ferrariβ to make audiences feel like this is how a rags-to-riches story should play out.
Orlando Bloom plays a marketing pro who believes he can take a gamer and make him a racecar driver in "Gran Turismo."Β
Unlike βAir,β βGran Turismoβ doesnβt have scenes that suggest this stunt could go awry. At best, it lets Bloom act like Corey Lewandowski at a Trump rally.
Madekwe, who would be super in a live-action version of βSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,β keeps much of the tension in check and looks like he actually could drive like a pro. Heβs tall (which could be a deterrent) and willing to listen to whatever Burgess Meredith instructions Harbour gives.
Totally predictable, βGran Turismoβ doesnβt have the kind of photography that would make this seem like a 1960s Cinerama epic. Instead, itβs a fairly scrappy film, filled with drone shots that track the cars but donβt get in the way.
Movie critic Bruce Miller says "Gran Turismo" will make you want to rev your engine on the way home from the theater.
Β
Movie critic Bruce Miller says thereβs plenty of ninja action in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" and a lot of familiar tropes, but what really flies here is the cast.
