GRAN TURISMO promotes its name-sake very well. The hit simulation racing game for the PlayStation is the heart of what drives this movie forward and it’s alright. While it's not the most exhilarating racing movie ever made, it has its moments but doesn’t quite take the pole position.
If you think you’d like a movie about racing, gaming, and a story about dreaming Gran Turismo will still be worth your time.
-Spoilers Ahead-

Dare To Dream
Gran Turismo tells the true story of Nissan’s attempts to produce a professional race car driver from the ranks of simulation gamers who play Gran Turismo. Spearheaded by Danny Moore (played by Orlando Bloom) who is loosely based on GT Academy’s real life founder Danny Cox, they scour the world for a potential star.
Archie Madekwe plays the young Jann Madenborough, an unassuming lad with a passion to drive and is a Gran Turismo fanatic. Jann goes through the usual trope of a strict father who does not like that he plays way too much. Despite the cliche, it is a very common hurdle most gamers these days face.
Jann ends up winning the competition to join Nissan’s GT Academy. This is where he meets Jack Salter who is played by David Harbour, a veteran race car driver now turned chief engineer.
Harbour’s performance in the movie was the brightest spark. His delivery and angst throughout was show stealing. He was a cynical dictator leading the GT Academy boot camp and it helped give the participants and the audience a reality check on how hard it really is to become a professional race car driver.
Afterall, the participants of GT Academy were just lanky gamers.

Simulation vs. Reality
Gran Turismo is basically a rags-to-riches story which has been done a thousand times over. Does Gran Turismo try to change the formula? Not at all but it feels kinda weird for a story involving games and simulation to not try and innovate even just a little bit.
Many moments in the game tried to blur the reality and simulation with Jann seeing racing lines, leaderboards and the like while he was driving in real life. There was even a funny mission successful bit after he successfully drove away from cops early on. Absolutely a gamer thing and was one I fully appreciated as an avid gamer myself.
Even if it didn’t try to innovate, Gran Turismo had its fair share of epic and funny moments leading up to its epic conclusion at the 24 Hours At Le Mans Race.

One Order of Gran Turismo Please
Director Neil Blomkamp tackled the movie with equal amounts of sentimentality and hair-raising moments. It’s a true story about a gamer who fought for his dreams and succeeded and it resonated with me.
I think I’ll eventually pick up the newest Gran Turismo and load up some Kenny G and Enya while I’m at it. The movie wasn’t perfect but it was still a good time and ultimately made me want to buy Gran Turismo so I think that’s more than a win for Blomkamp and company.
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