Journey to Le Mans (2014)

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Journey to Le Mans is a documentary presenting team Jota's quest to win Le Mans in the LMP2 division.Much of the race footage is presented in slow motion, and the melodramatic soundtrack is unrelenting. These aspects betray the innate excitement of high-speed racing. The film doesn't even present a summary of the race in any desirable form. I have to believe an under-produced bland documentary would have been much more interesting.What it does somewhat well is profile the drivers of team Jota. The raw footage is top-notch, alas the actually racing clips are very short.My one word summary would be "boring", which is a very unfortunate description of the pinnacle of high-speed auto racing.

This looks like a movie paid by the team itself. Not for petrol heads, as it fails to show the interesting aspects of motor sport, which usually doesn't happen on the racetrack. Eg: a huge crash destroys the car 2 weeks before a big race. 30 seconds explanation of "how we got our s**t back together and rebuilt the car"...well, that's quite an accomplishment to dig deeper in, no? why skipping?Also: - plenty of scenes are repeated. Cheap way of filling time? Don't show me driver #1 entering a corner, overtaking that blue car, then going in the pits to change the driver, then to see driver #2 overtake the same car in the same spot. If you used the same shot twice in 3 minutes i will notice and get annoyed. Then I write a review about the movie because you're wasting my time and i'm bitter. - the music chosen sounds like it was bought at Walmart (or Lidl in Europe). If you want to make a serious movie you can't cheap out on this.These aspects really ruin a movie which I was looking forward to see, and will ruin to you too.

For me this was a film filled with childhood nostalgia, going to Le Mans with my Dad and watching him race. I think more than anything this captures the reality, the team spirit and drive of the individual man to win. It makes me sad to read comments about it being only about 'Jota' a small team - who wants to watch them? It is not misleading - read the synopsis, this film says exactly what it is, an inside story about a group of guys wanting to make it in the greatest race in the world. So it is OK for Audi to do it? What if it were Porsche? I think perhaps some have missed the point the filmmakers captured which is the authenticity of just a bunch of passionate chaps who take on the world. Surely THIS is inspiration beyond all else? Or perhaps it just let's an old guy think 'hey I could do that'. For me it is a ten out of ten.

This was the perfect look into Le Mans. It wasn't a boring thing just talking tech like others I have seen made for TV, this had the cinema shots that made it feel like a film, while it was real and based in reality, the repetitive hard reality that took the view of the whole team. Nice to see it made by an indie most of these things are business things for corporates, this felt like a team of guys who just loved to race, meant more because of it. Seeing Le Mans from the inside when as a fan I have only seen it from the outside is very cool. It may not be one to watch with the girlfriend but for anyone who wants to see stunning cars and a team of nice guys pushing hard, Its a must see IMO. Will be watching again.