ScreenWize

Although it’s the shiny red 1974 Ford Falcon coupe that occupies the screen time, it’s Eric Bana who engages in this very personal look at the boy from suburban Melbourne who might have been a racing car driver. Written and directed by Bana himself, the film poses the question why anyone would – after 25 years - still own the car they bought when they were fifteen. Bana takes us back through family albums, home movies and interviews with family and friends to see if he can explain his love affair with the car he calls The Beast.Relaxed and easy in front of camera are both Bana and the car buddies who helped him re-build the original beaten up machine with a fifteen-dollar set of spanners, and with whom Bana has remained lifelong friends.

At times it’s easy to forget that this documentary is about an A-list movie star, so down to earth is Eric the boy-next-door and the warm everyday banter. But Eric the star adds another level of interest to the film, giving us access to Jay Leno – a car fanatic of a different kind (Leno’s vast and pristine collection puts Bana’s vehicular monogamy into sharp cultural perspective), and Dr. Phil, who adds some rosy and straightforward psychological insights into Bana’s obsession. More importantly there is also Jeremy Clarkson, the host of Top Gear, who livens up proceedings substantially, and who insists that Bana’s muscle car is a dreadful machine – almost as bad as a Toyota Corolla. He also suggests that Bana is completely insane putting a new 600 horse-power engine in a car with its original leaf sprung suspension.

The new engine is there as part of Bana’s plan to re-enter the famous Tasmanian Targa road rally – an event in which he finished a credible third back in 1996. With multiple cameras installed in The Beast, Mum, Dad and other close friends working as crew, the race through Tasmania’s beautiful landscape becomes a major – and often repetitive – part of this strange project of Bana’s to open up his personal world for global consumption. Ultimately the film says more about Bana than anything else, and when we see him dealing with the banalities of the Hollywood media on the red-carpet, it’s easy to understand the attraction of home, mates and the red Falcon.

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Filed Under: Reviews by Simon