Road, 2014
Directed by Michael Hewitt and Dermot Lavery
SYNOPSIS:
Brothers addicted to speed. At any price. Motorcycle road racing is the most dangerous of all motor sports. One in which men compete at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour on closed country roads. Roads that are lined with trees, telegraph posts, stone walls. Ireland and the Isle of Man are two of the few places in the world where the sport still survives. Narrated by Liam Neeson, this is the dramatic and poignant story of two sets of brothers from Northern Ireland who have dominated road racing for over thirty years. Two generations of one family that have been united by success. And united by tragedy.
Telling the tragic yet uplifting story of a family of Irish road racers, Road somehow manages to balance the worst kind of real-life terror into an uplifting piece that shows the true determination of character. It can at times be difficult to watch and it does have some questionable choices, but Road really does have its moments.
Road racing is a sport which sees bikers race around country and town roads as opposed to race tracks at high speeds. It really is as dangerous as it sounds and Road really succeeds in getting across the sense of danger and adrenaline. The sound work in the movie is outstanding, even if it does resort to Rocky-like sound amplifiers to make its point. Likewise the soundtrack is phenomenal and it really helps drive home (no pun intended) the movie’s powerful story. Narration is provided by Liam Neeson who is very good and his smooth Irish tones add to the authenticity of the piece.
If you’re a fan of road racing, then no doubt the Dunlop family will be familiar as they are, were told, huge names in the sport. Where Road succeeds, like Senna, is that you don’t have to be a diehard road racing face to get invested in the story as the subjects and their histories make for compelling watching and the high-octane driving scenes will draw you into the world they live in.
There is however one issue with this.
Road never shies away from the fact that road racing is incredibly dangerous. Not only is it dangerous, it can be life-threatening. Each crash seen on screen feels worse than the one before and it comes as no surprise that it is a sport that has seen its fair share of fatalities. But where this becomes a problem is in asking you to sympathise with the family. Any family who has had a death should get all the sympathy they deserve and your heart does go out to them, but you have to question why they keep going back to the sport. In one section of the movie, a racer gets into an accident and is lucky to walk away from it. After recovering for two years, he gets back on his bike and gets into another accident in which we’re told the pins in his leg from the previous accident were the only things to keep his leg attached to his body and that he only suffered a broken collar bone and a concussion. But what does he do when he’s back on his feet? He gets on his bike and he rides again.
The movie does go to great lengths to argue that this is something they have a desire and a need to do, but it does make you wonder when enough is enough. When should have been his last race? Is this a sport that has a “last race” that is of your choosing as opposed to one determined by a crash?
Like any good documentary should, Road never treats its viewer like they know the story and feeds you information as if you’ve heard it for the first time. Something which really comes into play during one pivotal race where we watch from a helicopter tracking shot. The music, narrative and tone give you an indication that something bad is going to happen and when it does, it is ‘hand over mouth’ bad. No matter how many times Road shows a crash, it never gets any easier to see.
Road is not a ‘rush out and see’ documentary, nor is it one that will break through the boundaries of ‘fans only’ like Senna did. But it succeeds in what it sets out to do – tell a powerful story with interesting characters, gripping drama, high speed action and a variety of highs and lows. It can be uncomfortable to watch at times and it really packs a punch, but Road is a well-executed documentary and a thought-provoking one at that.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published June 12, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
