After taking on apartheid and economic inequality with “District 9” and “Elysium,” Neill Blomkamp was finally prepared to make a film about the world’s most oppressed social class: gamers.
Rather than a straight adaptation of the video game that shares its name, “Gran Turismo” is a celebration of the people who play it. It’s a pious ode to Sony’s wondrous PlayStation system (anyone with even the slightest grievances with “Air” or “Blackberry” should steer clear of this one), and a grating middle finger to anyone who dares suggest that the answers to a gamer’s problems might lie outside the “Call of Duty” lobby.
It’s also a thrilling retelling of one of the craziest stories in recent sports history, shot with the level of skillful spectacle that the source material demands. Blomkamp might have directed the best 90-minute sports movie of the decade — it’s just a shame that “Gran Turismo” is nearly two and a half hours.
For as long as he could remember, Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) wanted nothing more than to be a race car driver. But his working-class background proved an insurmountable barrier to entering the sport, which typically requires access to fast cars and expensive tracks from a young age to achieve real success. He only had one window into the racing world to keep his dream alive: “Gran Turismo.” The popular PlayStation game, which launched in 1997, offers gamers a hyper-realistic driving simulator that allows them to explore the nuances of specific cars and iconic tracks like Le Mans. The attention to detail is so great that many racing enthusiasts believed a serious study of the game could be a foundation for an actual racing career.
Jann’s parents are unconvinced when he tells them that his gaming obsession is a stepping stone towards sports stardom. But Nissan executive Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) sees it differently. Moore is determined to reach a new audience for the company’s racing business, and thinks that gaming enthusiasts could be a valuable demographic. He starts a program called the GT Academy and invites the best “Gran Turismo” players from around the world to learn how to drive actual cars. The most promising pupil will receive a contract from Nissan and an opportunity to compete in the biggest races in the world.
Against his family’s wishes, Jann heads to the academy to seek his fortune. But he quickly begins to bristle with his classmates and Jack Salter (David Harbour), a washed up former driver who has reluctantly agreed to oversee the program in one last attempt to return to racing glory. As he attempts to break Jann’s spirit to shape him into an elite driver, the young “Gran Turismo” enthusiast begins to realize that the entire racing world is rooting against him. Everyone from fans and announcers to his own coaches and mechanics believe that “sim racers” have no business competing against traditional drivers. It becomes clear that Jann has to go to battle for a cause that’s much bigger than himself: convincing the world that pretending to drive a car is the same thing as driving a car.
“Gran Turismo” never allows us to forget its cynical raison d’être — this is a Sony commercial, folks — but Blomkamp refuses to phone in the assignment and dares us to be entertained anyway. It’s as easy to get swept up in the stunning racing sequences as it is to roll your eyes at the constant insinuations that it’s a civil rights crisis when gamers are told they aren’t jocks. Harbour and Madekwe absolutely nail the “tough-but-fair coach and his star pupil” dynamic — even if their most sentimental moment involves introducing each other to their favorite Sony electronics. And while Jann’s underdog story induces genuine fist pumps, it’s easy to picture legions of underachieving 28-year-olds using this movie as Exhibit A when their moms ask them to consider moving out of the basement.
This would all be a lot less confusing if Blomkamp had done us the courtesy of turning in something mediocre. But “Gran Turismo” is what happens when talented filmmakers take on ridiculous projects and do a great job. Cinephiles used to have the luxury of knowing that the art and craft of filmmaking were somewhat linked — studios would always make shameless cash grabs, but at least you could assume that they’d hire bad directors and hamstring them with bad notes. But “Gran Turismo” is proof that great craftsmanship can occur in artistically barren settings.
With every CPG brand trying to turn itself into a trendy content studio at the same time that our best auteurs struggle to find funding for original projects, there could be many more movies like this on the horizon. Imagine if Damien Chazelle makes another criminally misunderstood flop and has to helm Mattel’s UNO movie to get out of directing jail. His playfully frenetic camera could whip from player to player as they draw cards in perfect time with a bouncy Justin Hurwitz score. You’d be watching elite filmmaking, even within the confines of something utterly uninspired.
As Hollywood tries to Stop the Movies from Dying yet again, feature-length auteur commercials might be the next trend we’re all subjected to. And if “Gran Turismo” is any indicator, the output might be a lot like the sim drivers at the GT Academy — largely unremarkable, with the occasional gem emerging from the crap.
Grade: B
A Sony Pictures release, “Gran Turismo” opens in select theaters on Friday, August 11 before expanding nationwide on Friday, August 25.
