Movie Review: Gran Turismo (2023)

Gran Turismo (2023) directed by Neill Blomkamp

A Welsh twenty-something gamer obsessed with the racing game Gran Turismo gets the opportunity of his lifetime when Nissan and Sony host a tournament for the best Gran Turismo racers. The reward is going to GT Academy, a camp that will train the winners to race actual cars in actual races. For Nissan, it's a publicity stunt spearheaded by an optimistic sales exec (Orlando Bloom). He has to find a head mechanic to train them and take care of the cars. No one wants the job except the exec's last choice--Jack Salter (David Harbour). Jack is a former racer who works on pit crews but is cantankerous and not the easiest person in the world to deal with. The Welsh kid (Archie Madekwi) gets into the academy, ignoring his parents' pleas not to waste time on a pipe dream. Can he rise to the top among the GT players and eventually among actual race car drivers?

When I saw in the opening credits that this was based on a true story, I was a bit skeptical. The first ten minutes or so seem like an ad for both the video game and the car company, making the film look worse and worse. But the story (which is really based on a true life story) kicked in and made a good showing running through the standard underdog narrative. I did not see the plot twist of the story becoming a serious narrative. The actors all do a good job and the visual effects are not overwhelming or overdone. The movie is not great but is very enjoyable and was surprisingly well done, if you can make it past the opening commercial.

Recommended for an entertaining and mildly inspiring time. Just don't let your kids watch it, or they will want to do Mario or Minecraft in real life!