Race, The (DVD Review)

15 Apr, 2010 By: John Latchem

Prebook 4/20/10; Street 5/18/10
BFS
Family
$24.98 DVD
Not rated.
Stars Colm Meaney, Susan Lynch, Niamh McGirr.

The Irish film The Race manages to turn a tried-and-true formula into a heartwarming little movie.

Mary (fresh-faced Niamh McGirr) spends her time after school doing chores at her father’s farm while dreaming of one day being a racecar driver. She has built her own go-kart, which she races for fun against her best friend Tom.

But the simple life is not so simple for Mary’s mother (Susan Lynch of From Hell), whose waning satisfaction with farm living is threatening her marriage. Mary’s father (Colm Meaney of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”), is struggling to pay the bills and has begun to shut out his loved ones.

Mary’s ambitions often get her teased at school, especially when she has eyes on entering a high-profile local go-kart race. It’s not a sport for girls, they say. But just when Mary seems ready to give up her dream, her father takes notice of her interests and helps her build a winning racer.

The Race is a celebration of the joy of childhood and the dreams of youth that maybe don’t always turn out as expected as life unfolds. In one of the film’s emotional subplots, Mary’s mother must deal with having let go of her own dreams and encourages Mary to not do the same.

The DVD also includes a brief making-of featurette, which lets the actors pontificate upon the deeper meaning of the story.