The Racer is a new sports drama directed, written and produced in part by Kieron J. Walsh, the director of Jump.
The film is set in the summer of 1998 during the Tour de France, which takes place in Ireland that year. The Belgian cyclist Dominique Chabol (Louis Talpe) is at the end of his sports career, but secretly hopes to be able to wear the yellow jersey. When Dominique offers less good speed records, he is kicked out of his team. Thus he loses hope of making his dream come true and prepares to leave his sports career behind. When another member of his old team is disqualified due to a doping error, Dominique gets his last chance to make his dream come true.
This film comes across as if you are looking at real images of the Tour de France with additional images of how the cyclists prepare for their races. The film is so entertaining and informative for cycling fans. You get a good view of what heavy things cyclists do to have a chance of winning a cycling race. In this way you also see how false it is when other cyclists use doping to win their races in an unfair way.
A downside of this film is that you mainly follow the main character when he is kicked out of his cycling team, looking for a new way of life. He tries to improve his family life and to start a relationship with the doctor who cared for him. When he is allowed to return to his team towards the end of the film, he seems to be occupied with his own sports career and dreams again. The time you, as a viewer, spend after his sports career together with the main character, then appears somewhat aimless.
The acting is well done by the cast. Louis Talpe comes across well as a cyclist who chooses his career. It's just a shame that his character comes across a bit too selfish when he is allowed to return to his team. The rest of the cast gets a chance to shine as they help the main character with his life after his career. If he does choose his career again in the end, the time you spent with the rest of the cast also seems a bit unnecessary.
