Love The Beast

Rating:

* * *

Verdict:

Talk about Falcon fun, mate

When the young Eric Bana saw

Mad Max

, his future was laid out. There was Mel Gibson, in whose footprints the Melburnian would eventually follow to a Hollywood acting career.

But there, too, was Max's hotted-up Ford Falcon XB GT coupe, a 1974 model Bana soon acquired as a teenager and which he still owns 25 years later and raced, for a second time, in the 2007 Targa Rally of Tasmania.

In this self-directed, self-produced and moderately self-indulgent doco, Bana cites that film as an influence on his love affair with the car he's dubbed "the beast".

To analyse his petrol-headedness he gets in

Top Gear

's Jeremy Clarkson, TV agony aunt Dr Phil and avid car collector and talkshow host Jay Leno to say their supportive bit. Only Clarkson is remotely incisive -"muscle cars are crap". Bana's self-examination about his passion never finds a third gear, nor does the question of how much it has cost him to repeatedly refit and race the beast ever arise.

No doubt he can afford it. But you are also left wondering if he's held on to the car - along with his loyal mates who have long tinkered under its hood - to prove something to himself about remaining a normal bloke, despite his fame. Or if film stars take up doing risky stuff because everything else they do is just pretending.

Still, it's a lot of fun just to go along for the ride with the affable actor who is first seen in his previous life as a comedian.

And its fine in-car camerawork and some smart editing make for gripping moments as Bana and co-driver navigate the rally course - or don't. Yes, the path of true auto-love never runs smooth, especially when there's a large gum tree in the way.

The movie doesn't stray too far off its chosen path though. And despite being a vanity vehicle, care of Bana, it has plenty of high-horsepower charm to go with it.

Top Gear

heads should love it

Russell Baillie

Cast:

Eric Bana, Jeremy Clarkson, Dr Phil, Jay Leno

Director:

Eric Bana

Rating:

M (violence, offensive language)

Running time:

97 mins