The Racer

Not a single scene is in order with reality. 4 stars because the acting is not bad at all. Mediocre try of a fine subject! Too bad its nothing more than a bad try. Belgian main character (Mega Toby) does some fine acting though....

Its properbly not a 100% true insight of a Tour De France racing team, but it gives an insight of the dramas and the doping in a team. This takes place in Ireland 1998 where the Tour begins. And we follow a man in a team during the first three races in Ireland, before the Tour continues in France. Its a fairly good movie with lots of drama, and there is also room for a little love story :-) See it as a movie, and not as a documentary.

It's 1998. Dominique "Dom" Chabol (Louis Talpe) is a veteran riding his last Tour de France. His only job is supporting the younger riders. He's not supposed to win anything, but dreams of a stage win. Sonny McElhone (Iain Glen) is the team masseur and chief doper. Dom gets replaced before leaving for the tour. As he starts to accept his fate, he gets a second chance.

This is ripped from the headlines. Dom is such a quiet character. He almost has no colors except when he starts connecting with the girl. It's all about his racing. The last visual should be him with the girl. Instead of the trophy girls, he should walk off the podium to kiss Lynn like Rocky style. I like all the details, but this is a bit quiet.

Its seems to be stupid, but then u remember someone called Armstrong So who knows, if it could be true? I mean.

If you are interested in the Tour De France and its whereabouts, about the hidden things around it, or interested in cycling races in general, this film is definitely for you. I loved THE PROGRAM, back in 2015, about Lance Armstrong; and also loved CONTRE LA MONTRE, a TV movie starring Olivier Gourmet, denouncing drug use for cycling races. This story takes place during the first phase of the 1998 Tour de France in Ireland. This movie, I repeat, is very exciting and interesting too, a good character study concerning supporting racers, and not always the big stars. In short, it shows this sport from another angle. So many details are shown, as for a documentary.