Gran Turismo (2023)

I first assumed that this would be a video game movie in the usual sense, but the subtitle "Based on a True Story" told me otherwise. Like the same year's Tetris, it pertains to a game series but is not an adaptation thereof. That would explain its relative popularity.

British youth Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) has played the eponymous racing sim obsessively, to the annoyance of his father, former soccer pro Steve (Djimon Hounsou), who thinks it'll never be useful. Imagine their surprise when Jann's record arcade score yields an invitation from Nissan marketing exec Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom, looking like Tom Hiddleston) to enter another race to qualify for the new GT Academy, which hopes to turn a player into a real world-class racecar driver, albeit with a PlayStation controller-based steering wheel. Yup, a gamer bro's dream come true. But the path to stardom involves a lot more challenges than in The Wizard -- not to mention physical danger.

Possibly the most interesting character is Jack Salter (David Harbour), who runs the academy and then keeps training Jann (you already guessed he'd be the academy champion, right?). A former pro racer, he initially rejects the idea that any of the cadets could ever hold their own on a real track. Later, he expresses supreme confidence in Jann when the latter is discouraged.

As often happens in sports flicks, at least one competitor is a jerk. At the academy, it's the camera-friendly but arrogant Matty Davis (Darren Barnett), who thankfully overcomes his hostility when Jann needs co-drivers. Elsewhere, it's Nicholas Capa (Josha Stradowski), who drives a shiny golden car and has a reputation for dirty tactics. Both characters appear to be fictitious.

The film does take a lot of liberties. I can forgive some timeline fudging for drama's sake, but considering that the actual final race took place in 2012, Jann shouldn't have previously been shown playing GT7, which debuted in 2022. And it's not like Sony couldn't supply a period-appropriate game.

Thematically, yeah, it's formulaic. But I enjoyed it a little more than Rush and almost as much as Ford v Ferrari. A somewhat shorter runtime than the latter helps, as does the real Jann Mardenborough doing stuntwork. And once in a while, we're treated to audiovisual add-ons that I presume come straight out of the games, no doubt reflecting how Jann likes to imagine life.

I'd been wondering whether Neil Blomkampf would direct another hit after District 9. This isn't on the same tier, but it's pretty solid. You might want to see it for a wholesome story about something that many thought wouldn't happen in RL.