Love The Beast

I'm not into cars much at all but what was so great about Love The Beast is that while it is about Eric Bana's lifelong love of his car I don't really think it is about the car itself.

If you get what I mean.

Sure, there was a fair bit of shop talk that those who work with or are passionate about cars will understand that I didn't. But it doesn't change the experience.

What we have here is a documentary telling the story of Bana's love of `the beast' and what you learn is quite remarkable and I think is very genuine.

Despite being a Hollywood star now that wasn't always the case. At one stage he was a struggling stand-up comic who was booed off a stage in Albury.

He used to work on his car with a few mates and 25 years later they still get together to tinker, talk about and drive cars.

The focus is Bana's participation in the Targa Tasmania rally in 2007.

What I took away from this film, which features segments of talks between Bana and the likes of Jay Leno, Dr Phil and Jeremy Clarkson, is that Bana is a real person.

What I mean by that is when you see a Hollywood star it is almost always in a contrived setting whereas this is raw, real and genuine. And if it isn't then Bana is a much better actor than anyone could ever think. He comes across as very grounded, attached to his car and this is illustrated when he crashes it during the rally.

There's a great moment with Jeremy Clarkson (of Top Gear for those not familiar) where he says, in his blunt manner, something like `you've travelled half way around the world to ask me whether you should fix the car, just go fix the car'.

It is a very personal movie and I think you come away with a lot of respect for Eric Bana, because few people (let along movie stars) give you such an intimate look into their life and into their heart. He should be applauded. An 8 out of 10.