This week we’re celebrating the London Marathon with a day at the races. By land, air or water, the stars of these films prove their competitive spirit, but you won’t have to move from your couch to watch them, with every film here available for home viewing in the UK. If you're looking for more inspiration, we now have JustWatch links at the bottom of reviews across the site to help you find which films are screening and where.
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| Ferrari |
Ferrari - Sky, NOW Cinema
Jennie Kermode writes: There are lots of ways to race but few things as thrilling to race in as a classic Ferrari, and to date nobody has captured that experience a thrillingly as Michael Mann. There’s a lot going on in this film, which features superb performances from Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz as the high profile couple behind the firm, whose marriage is falling to pieces. It takes in the tragic accident that changed attitudes to street racing forever, and the desperate business deals through which Enzo Ferrari struggled to retain control of what was, to him, an art, but it’s when foot hits pedal that it really comes to life. The perfect settings, the angles, the use of light, the speed of it all, forcing viewers to try to react as fast as the drivers themselves – it’s dizzying and brilliant and nothing else can get close.
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| Seabiscuit |
Seabiscuit - Amazon, Google Play and other stores
Amber Wilkinson writes: Everyone loves the tale of an underdog and, in this case you might say it's an under-horse who drives the story. Seabiscuit was a real horse that became a racing superstar during the American Depression. Gary Ross offers a comfortingly old fashioned retelling of this tale, which focuses on a trio of men associated with the horse. They are self-made millionaire and horse owner Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges), Red Pollard (Toby Maguire, who dropped about 3st for the role), who finds himself working as jockey as a result of the economic crash and out-of-work cowboy Tom Smith (Chris Cooper), who becomes the trainer of the fleet-footed champ. There's a tried and tested race track formula here and Ross sticks to the rails but this is a polished period drama and the heartwarming truth of the story is so winning it's hard not to get hooked.
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| The Novice Photo: courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films release. |
The Novice - Amazon, Apple TV and other stores
Jennie Kermode writes: If you want to be the best, sports films often tell us, you wave to work at it. Work hard enough and you can do anything. Dall (Isabelle Fuhrman) believes it. That’s why she’s studying physics – because it’s one of her weaker subjects, and she wants a challenge. It’s also why, despite being smaller and lighter than her rivals, and not great at teamwork, she’s determined to make the rowing team. Staying in the training room long after everyone else has gone, she works out until she throws up, and sometimes still tries to go on. When her body lets her down, she punishes it. She’s hooked on endorphins, clearly not eating or sleeping enough, doing everything the way that Hollywood says she should, and hurtling towards destruction as a result. Keeping the camera close, first time filmmaker Lauren Hadaway ensures that we are caught in her wake. It’s a film that won’t let you go.
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| Rush |
Rush - Netflix, Amazon and other stores
Amber Wilkinson writes: One of sports most memorable rivalries is that which unfolded between Formula 1 stars James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl). Ron Howard's film focuses on the 1976 season and while he delivers a decent amount of track action, writer Peter Morgan ( The Queen, Frost/Nixon) emphasises the psychological gamesmanship between the two. While Hemsworth has fun with the British driver's playboy personality, it's Bruhl who does the heavy lifting as the win-at-all-costs Lauda, an attitude that led the driver to have a horrific accident. As the Austrian battles back from injury, the film develops plenty of emotional heft.
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| Time Trial |
Time Trial - Amazon, Apple TV and other stores
Jennie Kermode writes: Every race ultimately comes to a conclusion. The only British rider ever to have won all the different jerseys on the Tour de France, David Millar is now struggling to make the team at all. He knows that he’s reached a point in his life where he can’t expect his body to work as efficiently as it used to, but at an emotional level he just can’t quite adjust to the experience of putting in the same effort and not getting the same result. Finlay Pretsell’s documentary follows him through this pivotal period on a journey played out against stunning scenic backdrops, taking in his desperation, his despair, watching him wrestle with mortality and, perhaps, find something on the other side. It’s a window into an elite way of living and, at the same time, something every older viewer will connect with.
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| Rally Road Racers |
Rally Road Racers - Amazon Prime, Google Play and other stores
Jennie Kermode writes: Cute animals and fast cars don’t traditionally get along well, but Ross Venakur’s captivating cartoon adventure turns a lot of things on their head. It’s the story of Zhi (voiced by Jimmy O Lang), a young slow loris with a need for speed. He’s always dreamed of being a rally driver, but when he finds out that his longstanding hero, toad of the road Archie Vainglorious (John Cleese) might be connected to a scheme which threatens his grandmother’s village, he realises that it’s time to turn dreams into action – and a mysterious mentor voiced by JK Simmons might be able to turn his raw talent into what it takes to win. Of course, there is skullduggery along the way, and he finds his head turned by a female loris with an agenda of her own, but for all his struggles, viewers – of all ages – will find this lively, witty, energetic film a delight from start to finish.
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| Life Is Not A Competition But I'm Winning Photo: Courtesy of Venice Film Festival |
Life Is Not A Competition But I'm Winning - MUBI
Amber Wilkinson writes: This thought-provoking documentary from Julia Fuhr Mann is not about a specific race but touches on everything from swimming and running to the Olympics as it invites us to consider the historic bias against exceptional female, Black and LGBTQ+ athletes. The German director’s film, which includes the insertion of modern athletes into historic footage, scrutinises the way that excelling is celebrated when a white male athlete is doing it but has frequently been erased from the record books when it comes to anybody else. The bias dates back to the Olympics itself, when its founder declared: “Female athletes act against the law of nature.” Fuhr Mann told us: “The goal was a little bit that the spectators start to question the categories.” It’s a goal Fuhr Mann certainly achieves.
