Winning (1969)

Of all the racing movies I've seen, this is probably my favorite, as the acting in it matches up with the race scenes provided; it's pretty good, in my opinion.

Paul Newman (as Frank Capua) does an excellent job of portraying the ice-cool race driver who is dedicated to his profession to achieve the ultimate goal, of winning races as often as he can. Joanne Woodward is good in her role as the supportive wife who needs as much attention as Capua's cars do. In the mix is a teen-aged Richard Thomas as Joanne's son from a previous engagement, and his character blends in well as the new 'adopted' son of Frank. Of course Robert Wagner plays well his character of being the cocky teammate/rival of Frank. Not to mention there is also some good stereotype acting of supporting cast members of other people involved in Frank's world of racing, the car owner, mechanics, etc. There's even a cameo of Bobby Unser in the movie, who actually won the Indy 500 of the year in which the movie is placed at, 1968.

I guess I'm partial to "Winning" because it is realistic of what racing was like during the 1960's. Drivers then, weren't committed to strict contracts of not being allowed to participate in a variety of motorsports. Instead, a driver might have competed in a GP somewhere, then be off to a sports car race in Germany, or perhaps a stock car race or USAC Indy car race of some sort in the states. Such practices then weren't uncommon then. I thought that this movie captures this versatility well, by displaying the variety of races that Paul's character is involved in; Can-Am type races, stock car and Indy car races. Also this movie illustrated to some degree, how weekend after weekend would be occupied of setting cars up at certain tracks and, of course, racing them on Sundays, during the tight schedules of the normal racing season. The footage and sounds are great if you have a heart for racing.

Dave Grusin's soundtrack is nice too. Just good ol' easy-listening type music.

If you like auto-racing, then I'd suggest seeing "Le Mans" (1971) with Steve McQueen or "Grand Prix" (1966) with James Garner, as both have some good footage of actual racing as well. But if you want to see a racing movie with realistic scenes and scenarios of people involved the sport, with great acting, I can't think of any other movie to suggest than "Winning." It really is the only racing movie that I know of that blends in acting and action footage rather well.