The Last Race

You don't need to be a fan of stock car racing to appreciate "The Last Race," a beautiful portrait of a vanishing piece of Americana.

The film examines a small-town race track, the blue-collar players that inhabit it and the close-knit community that revolves around it. Throughout the film it's impossible to stay apathetic to the sight of local heroes (race car drivers), the elderly track owners and the characters that frequent the race track who might lose their beloved track to real-estate development greed.

The film is loaded with life-or-death stakes (even thought the film couldn't be further away from NASCAR's world), intimate camerawork and impressive sound design. Director Michael Dweck uses long takes and little talk, and lets the environment and visuals do all the explaining.

Dweck found beauty in an unusual place and has shared it with all who care to look at it.

This was all too real. It was far too real. Perhaps the most depressing metaphor for what we all face as we age. It's as good as doc's can achieve, but as eye-opening a film about aging and "development" as one can view.

Interesting documentary about racing car culture and how it all works. I was excited to see this and had high expectations. There are some long shots without audio. Some parts are bland but in general a good watch.

Let me start off by saying that I am a grassroots racing fan. Growing up, Saturday night was the night to go to the track with my dad and watch the asphalt gladiators do battle. I was fortunate enough to be able to race at my home track for a little while and will cherish those moments forever. Our track also went through owner changes, sitting dormant for a year and NASCAR affiliation coming and going. I saw this film advertised on Facebook, but unfortunately the trailer pretty much sums up the entire film. There are some real moments, such as the interview with the track owner towards the end of the film and the driver speaking of winning a race for his father after he had passed. The film does show what the track means to the racing community, especially being an area where so many tracks were prevalent during the birth of auto racing. That being said, this film is entirely too slow. The majority of the content is absolutely nothing. The opening scene set the tone for the film. I can appreciate the message that the film does loosely deliver, but it failed to deliver with any true excitement. There is some cool racing footage in the film, but most of it is just oddly misplaced here and there. Again, I can appreciate the people in the film and the message being made, but I feel it could've been portrayed in an entire different light.

This movie is the epitome, of what I feel, of car culture basics. This movie properly and well presented of the community's focus and services that the car culture provides. The movie shows how the community socializes and how the community contributes to each other's lives. What I feels is what needs to be absorbed and well grasped from this movie is the whole unity of the car cultures social foundation.

The car culture, was generally showcased as a culture of isofocused, for a lack of a better way to describe the context, but the car culture community, is not revolved around that reality. The reality of these people, from what I've obtained from the movie, is the whole association of the abilities to understand the car's capabilities, and mostly the car's historical significance and the importance of the car's performance. By having this "understanding" of the car's capabilities, will definitely provide you the insights of what it really means to have a "bet" on car racing. When you delve into the car culture, you'll definitely and quickly find the appreciation of what car racing is and does for the person. The Last race was a well created movie of what the car racing community does and focuses on.