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Review

A star rating of 3 out of 5.

When "King of Cool" Steve McQueen decided to star in a drama about the Le Mans 24-hour motor race, Hollywood bigwigs must have licked their lips in anticipation of the box-office returns. After all, how could a high-speed spectacle with a car-racing superstar go wrong? However, when Le Mans was released in 1971, it ended up a financial and critical failure. With access to audio recordings and behind-the-scenes footage, directors Gabriel Clarke and John McKenna diligently reveal how McQueen's obsession with authenticity resulted in reels of actual race footage but no script, which reduced original director John Sturges - the man who moulded the McQueen persona in The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape - to little more than a frustrated bystander. Production staff, the drivers (including eventual Le Mans winner Derek Bell) and McQueen's ex-wife Neile Adams and son Chad provide fascinating insight into the maverick actor's volatile personality ("I'm not a compromiser") and his off-screen antics. Petrolheads will revel in the state-of-the-art race sequences but like Le Mans itself, this watchable documentary detailing how one man's labour of love turns to utter folly could have done with some judicious editing to create a tighter, more substantial affair.

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Credits

Cast

rolename
Steve McQueenSteve McQueen (1)
Chad McQueenChad McQueen
Neile AdamsNeile Adams
Derek BellDerek Bell
Alan R TrustmanAlan R Trustman
David PiperDavid Piper
Siegfried RauchSiegfried Rauch
Louise EdlindLouise Edlind

Crew

rolename
DirectorGabriel Clarke
DirectorJohn McKenna

Details

Theatrical distributor
The Works
Released on
2015-11-20
Languages
English
Guidance
Swearing
Available on
DVD and Blu-ray
Formats
Colour
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