The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureMovie reviews

The Racer

The Racer | Movie review
14 December 2020
Jake Cudsi
Avatar
Jake Cudsi
14 December 2020

Movie and show review

Jake Cudsi

The Racer

★★★★★

Release date

18th December 2020

Links

TwitterFacebookWebsite

Since its first outing at the Cork Film Festival’s opening night (it was set to debut at SXSW, but alas, that was cancelled), The Racer has been cycling the festival circuit in a race to attract an audience outside of its specialist scope. Kieron J Walsh commands solid performances from his cast, as director of the biking film as much about the cogs in the mind as the sport itself. 

The title of the movie points towards a focus and dissection of the pro-athlete’s mind: in this case the ageing Belgian cyclist Dom Chabol (played by an outstanding Louis Talpe). The year is 1998. Ireland is hosting the first three stages of the Tour de France and the experienced sportsman is readying himself for another stint among the domestiques (support riders). The role requires commitment, selflessness and endurance, all to let a cycling team’s sprinter win the glory and accolades. One can see where this one is going. 

On the eve of the first race, Chabol is dropped only to be hastily reinstated when a teammate is banned for getting caught doping. The Belgian cyclist is brought back into the fold. However, his lingering self-doubt, combined with the sense that this is his final opportunity to be centre-stage, begins to tug at his cool, confident facade. 

Talpe plays the role expertly, holding the viewers’ complete attention as they are absorbed with Chabol’s mental and physical struggle. Walsh keeps the audience attached to the protagonist –  although, as he is overwhelmed by the intensity of the sport and a career fading away, the result is a suffocating experience at times. There’s enough drama injected into proceedings to make it stand out from notable cycling documentaries that have focused on doping released in recent years, such as Icarus. However, the appeal of this bruising journey might not extend beyond the sport psychology and cycling fanatics. 

★★★★★

Jake Cudsi

The Racer is released in select cinemas and digitally on demand on 18th December 2020.

Watch the trailer for The Racer here:

Related Itemsreview

More in Movie reviews

The Road Dance

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

The Innocents

★★★★★
Emma Kiely
Read More

Benediction

★★★★★
Lauren Devine
Read More

This Much I Know to Be True

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

The Quiet Girl (An Cailín Ciúin)

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Vortex

★★★★★
Joseph Owen
Read More

Everything Everywhere All at Once

★★★★★
Guy Lambert
Read More

Father Stu

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

★★★★★
Musanna Ahmed
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

Jake Cudsi

The Racer

★★★★★

Release date

18th December 2020

Links

TwitterFacebookWebsite

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Ladies’ fashion: Seven wardrobe staples for summer
    Fashion & Lifestyle
  • Julius Caesar at Shakespeare’s Globe
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Operation Mincemeat at Riverside Studios
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Viagra Boys at the Forum
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Buddhist on Death Row by David Sheff
    ★★★★★
    Literature
  • The Road Dance
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The Innocents
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Benediction
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Banter Jar at Lion & Unicorn Theatre: “An authentic and timely one-woman show”
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Three-Michelin-star restaurants L’Effervescence and SingleThread announce first post-Covid collaboration in Tokyo
    Food & Drinks
  • Operation Mincemeat at Riverside Studios
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Viagra Boys at the Forum
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • “There’s something very tender if you reconnect with your parents when they’re falling into pieces”: Gaspar Noé on Vortex
    Cinema & Tv
  • Tool at the O2 Arena
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Quiet Girl (An Cailín Ciúin)
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Come Away | Movie review
Five of the best baked goods that will deliver to your door this festive season