I feel like everyone loves a good underdog story. I know I do.
There’s something magical about watching someone who “isn’t supposed” to be in a space, or who nobody believes in prove everyone wrong. It’s even better when that story actually happened. I’m like “yeah, I’m not delusional! Look, they did it!”
Gran Turismo, written by Jason Hall, Zach Baylin and Alex Tse, and directed by Neill Blomkamp, is one of those underdog stories. Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) is a young man who loves playing Gran Turismo, a racing simulation video game (although he tells us in the film that it’s not a game). He’s really good at it, and thanks to a pitch by Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom), he discovers he’s one of the best Gran Turismo racers in the world. Now, with the help of Jack Salter (David Harbour), he must find out if he has what it takes to be a professional race car driver.
In a real car.
On a real track.
Jann is such a kid at the beginning of the film and, by that, I mean he just plays his game and is working at a store while he tries to figure out what he wants to do with his life. He isn’t even shown to have any real dreams of being a race car driver until the opportunity is presented to him. He plays the game because he genuinely loves it. When he gets the chance to race for real, he realises there’s a lot more work that goes into it. He must get more physically fit, he must hold his own against people who have been doing this longer than he has, and he must be sure- “if your car crashes out there, you can’t hit reset.” I remember having big dreams as a kid, but watching the confidence I had in those dreams slowly chip away as I got older and realised just how much work they would take. When it comes to our dreams, how much are we willing to give to them? Jann has to learn to commit even- especially- when things get tough.
This is even more remarkable considering how dangerous racing can be and proves to be for Jann when his car tumbles and crashes in an accident that leaves him wounded and someone else dead. He almost quits (which I would have done, to be honest) but is encouraged not to do so by Jack. I love a good mentor/mentee relationship and seeing Jack sometimes be the only one in the racing world who believed in Jann, and who would push him to be better through tough love or sharing his own losses was so beautiful to me.
Seeing his loved ones gather around him at the end to celebrate his victories got me a little emotional, I’ll admit. That’s what we want to do, right? To be able to make the people that stood by us when we weren’t doing so good proud.
Gran Turismo is in theatres on Friday, August 25th, 2023.
