Review of Gumball 3000: The Movie

Introduction

Cinema was built on the chase. From the earliest days of the silent movies, the sight of chases, pursuits and pratfalls enthralled audiences. I could go on about this, but I`ll just refer you to the definitive reference on the subject, The Bugs Bunny Roadrunner Movie. The quintessential chase would be the race of course, defining the pursuit in terms of speed and power, and cinema in the sixties made much of the format producing entertainment like Monte Carlo Or Bust, invariably with Terry-Thomas twirling his moustache as the archetypal cad. These films were plot driven, where story was more important than speed. However the seventies saw something of a revolution, perhaps driven by the fear of privation induced by the Energy Crisis. Audiences wanted to see the supermodels of the automotive world, the best combination of design flair and gas-guzzling muscle in pure paroxysms of speed. The filmmakers gave them exactly what they wanted, distilling the race to its most fundamental precepts, pure speed and power coupled with racing for the pure joy of racing.

Enter the high-pitched laugh and bushy moustache of Burt Reynolds. My formative years saw hi-octane entertainment delivered by the Smokey And The Bandit films, the Cannonball Run movies and one film that was less successful, The Gumball Rally. The Gumball Rally really only was memorable for a black leather clad, moustachioed motorcyclist. (You may be under the impression by now that moustaches and motorcars go together.) Despite the forgettable film, it came as a surprise a few years later to find that there actually is a Gumball Rally that inspired the film, where like minded speed freaks gather on a regular basis to pit their wits and their horsepower against each other and local law enforcement officials, as they race cross-country from city to city.

The Gumball 3000 is a documentary that followed the semi-illicit race along the 6-day 3000-mile course from San Francisco to Miami and took place in Spring 2003. The man himself, Burt Reynolds narrates as 145 examples of automotive excellence, some of the fastest and most beautiful cars on the planet are driven at ludicrous speed by various real-life characters across the continental United States.

Video

The Gumball 3000 is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer. Shot on digital video, you don`t have to worry about print damage or other problems associated with film, and the picture is uniformly clear and crisp. The resolution isn`t exactly pin sharp though, but the digital video format certainly suits the documentary format.

This film, in-between the fast cars and petrol-heads is a great postcard for much of America and the travelogue style footage comes across well here.

Audio

A DD 2.0 Stereo soundtrack presents the dialogue clearly, which is all you can really ask from a documentary. Those interested will find plenty of engine noise and squealing rubber, and the great selection of music is certainly impressive. Unfortunately there are no subtitles.

Features

The extras begin with footage of Burt Reynolds recording his narration. Five minutes of the man behind a microphone recording audio that you have just heard in the movie may seem a little pointless, but it`s worth it for the last 30 seconds.

The interviews on this disc last some 14 minutes and among the others, interviewees include Tony Hawk minus his skateboard, Jodie Kidd and the Mayor of San Francisco Willie Brown.

3000 miles is 10 minutes of footage of the country travelled through by the Gumballers, minus the cars, all set to music and looking magnificent.

Route Cards is a 5-minute slideshow of the route cards issued to the competitors, showing the destination, distance and landmarks complete with witty comments.

Finally there is the omnipresent trailer as well as a slideshow of the movie posters.

Conclusion

I like speed as much as the next guy, but I`m definitely not a petrol head. I could, if pressed tell the difference between a Ferrari and a Lamborghini, but I wouldn`t be able to name the models. I won`t be grunting like Tim Allen at engine capacities, torques, gear ratios or brake discs. I can tell you that where it took 5 days for most of these drivers to get from San Francisco to Miami, an SR71a spy plane cruising at Mach 3 would take little more than an hour. Now that`s fast.

Gumball is less about speed than the love affair with the motorcar. With America`s profusion of endless highways and cheap petrol, the right to drive is as jealously guarded as the right to bear arms, and with both car and gun enthusiasts, there is the lunatic fringe who insist on bearing more than anyone else. Having said that, this particular Gumball seems populated by more than its fair share of Brits including organiser Maximilian Cooper, probably escaping the spectre of speed cameras back home in Blighty, driving the fastest production cars in the world at speeds in excess of 150 miles an hour. The Gumball is an exercise in irresponsibility. Driving at breakneck speeds and shattering speed laws with impunity cannot be condoned. Indeed the disc starts with a warning not emulate any of the shenanigans. It`s not so much of a sport either. To see real skill and speed there`s always Formula 1, and a Rally usually implies significantly fewer straight and wide roads. To its credit, Gumball 3000 tries to tilt the focus from speed and horsepower to the driver and their mentalities, as well as the characters surrounding them.

There are 3 aspects to Gumball 3000 that a potential viewer can expect to appreciate. First the cars, and even an automotive ignoramus like myself can appreciate the serious eye candy on show here, Porsches, Bentleys, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, all shiny and sleek. However, if you have a fast car, you are obliged to shred the tyres with excessive wheel spin at every opportunity. The on car views as the landscape blurs past is only an opportunity to count the bugs smeared across the windscreen, and once you`ve seen one doughnut, you`ve seen them all.

Then there are the people who take part. You know the Cannonball Run movies had Burt Reynolds, Dom Deluise, Jack Elam, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr, Roger Moore, Jackie Chan, Jamie Farr, and Catherine Bach in hotpants, wow! The clones of Nigel Mansell populate the real life Gumball. As exciting as the machines are to look at, that`s how dull the drivers are. There`s a longhaired Texan whose vocabulary extends to making the sign of the devil and yelling "Gumball Rocks!" repeatedly. There are a couple of Germans who drive a German police car just to confuse the other competitors. There`s a ginger haired driver who likens himself to Burt Reynolds, but has the sense of humour of John Major. There`s a foul-mouthed Londoner whose language is enough to earn this film an eighteen rating and ban it completely in some countries. I could swear he`s from Ealing Broadway.

The other characters boggle the mind. Gumball is about speed, breaking the law and driving recklessly, but the Mayor of San Francisco is proud to have attracted the race to his city and even endorses the event with an appearance at the start. The police are portrayed as incompetent, often turning a blind eye or relishing the chance to be on camera. Though to be honest, at the end of the race, the competitors had accumulated several thousand dollars worth of fines, and a few had spent more than a few hours behind bars. One Florida flatfoot was so dumb that when a competitor asked how many cops were patrolling the next stretch of road, he assured him that he was free to speed for the next 15 miles. I suppose there is celebrity endorsement of a sort, with a blink and you`ll miss it appearance from Tony Hawk, who`s traded up his skateboard for something with a little oomph, as well as Jodie Kidd avec Dodge Viper. The bright spot in all these uninspiring characters are the Cuban Mantovanni brothers, who, especially in the person of Miguel Mantovanni possess the sum of the charisma that all the other drivers lack. A rather tacky and vaguely salacious escapee from Scarface, I wound up looking forward to his appearances and his outrageous comments. I get the feeling that the filmmakers may have entered him deliberately to provide at least some semblance of entertainment.

The final possible draw is the visual aspect of the documentary, and this is where Gumball succeeds. Driving across America, you get to see some of the most beautiful and inspiring landscapes and cityscapes there are. Arid deserts to lush wetlands, it`s all here and every opportunity is taken to enjoy sunsets, sunrises and the glorious vistas of California, Arizona, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas and Florida. Sights like the White Sands Missile testing range, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Hoover Dam all contribute to a visual feast.

If you watch Gumball 3000, expecting Cannonball Run then you`ll be disappointed. It`s real life and the people are real too, not the larger than life characters that populate the movies. The documentary wisely focuses on the people, trying to understand why they do what they do. Despite the subject there`s not a lot of reckless driving to be seen here, no stunts and crashes. Everything is as safe as an unlawful activity can be. But at the end of 97 minutes, I`m no closer to understanding what motivates someone to drive this fast. Why do they race? Because they enjoy racing for the pure joy of racing. And that worryingly begs the further question, what was the point of the documentary? If anything though, it does prove the old tortoise and hare story isn`t just poppycock.