2 hours, 49 minutes and 46 seconds. Doesn't seem like that much time, particularly when ones watching a acclaimed racing movie.
However with life's limitations of family, work, household requirements, it took me three days to get to 2 hours and 29 minutes. And with that the streaming service decided to no longer have it available for viewing.
Non the less, like everything else, I have an opinion on what I saw so far.
I will say, that while the opening scene is pretty fantastic, it doesn't quite build the same levels of anticipation that Le Mans creates. Despite that, the film jumps right to the reason ones there.
Circa '66 era Fomula 1 v8's blasting through casino square in Monaco. The sound is worth the admission as straight pipes whale up the hill, best listened on quality surround.
It only takes a few minutes of enjoyment before the eyes come in and truly begin to register the surroundings. No rub stripes, not a single protected curb. As the drivers risk of hanging the tail out and tapping a curb was ever present.
While James Garner is billed as the hero, his part and story seems surprisingly small in comparison to the other characters. Not quite central to the movie. However if I had a big name actor and I was doing a movie about a sport that predominantly runs in Europe, I might have billed it the same.
There's love and loss, fear and pride and everything that truly drives a human to slide into a fiberglass and chromoly coffin that's bolted to an unhinged v8 and achieve super human feats.
In my heart felt opinion, the cinematographer is the true hero of this movie. The images created with the cameras are fantastic. One could remove the human dialog and still have an amazing movie to watch. Hollowed grounds of Monza, Spa, Monaco in a time when they ran naturally through the country, when drivers had more grit then sandpaper and cars where every bit the monsters they sounded like.
Now, to figure out who actually wins.
