Tag: Adam Carolla

WINNING: THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN – The Review

wrlpn_image

I’m not normally the type to voluntarily offer up my time to watch sports documentaries, but WINNING:THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN is one of those rare exceptions. Here’s the catch, it’s really not a sports film, but a look into another, lesser known side of the life of Paul Newman, one of the greatest American actors of all-time, and as it turns out, one of the greatest American men of all-time as well.

When you define what makes the perfect man, the perfect American citizen, or even the perfect human being, what comes to mind? The answer to that question will vary greatly, depending on who you ask, and the truth is, it’s a trick question. There is no perfection when it comes to humanity. However, what I discovered from watching this film, co-directed by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams, is that Paul Newman damn near comes close, if anyone does, by my standards.

WINNING: THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN is not a racing film. Its a film about a man racing to make the most of his life in the areas in which he enjoys and excels. The film starts off slow, taking its time to build up speed and find its mojo, but once it does, this little 83-minute documentary gem reveals some truly amazing content. Just on the surface, WINNING is well worth the watch just for the archival footage, most of which I — and certainly most others — have never seen or knew existed. We come to learn that, despite his accomplishments and fame as an Academy Award-winning actor, his heart really belonged to racing. This, despite the fact he did not start racing until in his forties.

Witnessing the drive and commitment of Paul Newman toward something other than what made him a household name was truly inspiring. We see how a man so publicly in the spotlight as an entertainer can somehow maintain a private life as an average Joe, an everyman with dreams and aspirations outside of Hollywood. We see how he embraces a lower profile, but does not succumb to the trappings of ego and elitism. We see as well his heart and compassion for his fellow man in the charitable work he and wife Joanne Woodward pursue, and even a glimpse into his passion for making salad dressings. Yes, Newman’s Own began as a personal passion of making the salad condiment for friends and family.

WINNING is not a flashy, well-polished film, but where it lacks glitz and glamor it excels at sincerity. Archival footage and photographs are interlaced with a multitude of honest, off the cuff interviews with colleagues, friends and family. The film features recollections and antidotes from the likes of Robert Wagner, Patrick Dempsey, Jay Leno, Robert Redford, Mario and Michael Andretti — amongst countless other racing stars — his wife Joanne Woodward, John Lasseter and more.

Coincidentally, about the only person of note mentioned in the film who is absent in the interviews is Tom Cruise, which is disappointing but also not terribly surprising. The film does, however, delve into the influence Newman had on Cruise early in his stardom, how he was something of a mentor, introduced Cruise to racing and ultimately led to his spending two years pursuing the sport as Newman himself had, before backing out due to safety concerns. Parallel to this, WINNING also conveys a sense of bravery and determination revealed about Newman’s character. I mean, the man continued racing professionally into his early eighties… who else does that?!?

The previously mentioned interview segments with John Lasseter, director of Disney/Pixar’s CARS, was a wonderful addition with which to end the film, as he discussed how crucial Newman was in his role as Doc in providing a sense of authenticity and racing credibility to the film that helped make it such a success. This further illustrates the multiple layers of legacy left behind by the surprisingly humble man and the life he chose to lead.

WINNING: THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN is a film with a title longer than its running time, but this short nugget of American history is likely to stick with you for years to come and possibly even inspire and influence a few viewers to greatness of their own, in some form or another. This film only increased my respect and admiration for the iconic Paul Newman.

WINNING: THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN
is available on
Video on Demand now

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

wrlpn_poster

Check Out The Trailer For The Amazing Documentary WINNING: THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN

10580964_829367650480029_2898372035051396793_o

If you’re a racing fan, there’s a great new documentary on the horizon on the amazing driving career of Paul Newman.

Perfectly timed to open over Memorial Day weekend, known for its infamous races the Coca-Cola 600 and Indianapolis 500, the new trailer for WINNING: THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN looks at the actor who said in a 1973 interview, “If I could be a competitive automobile driver, I’d chuck this in a minute. It’s pretty hard to start something like that when you’re 47.”

This fascinating documentary – from Adam Carolla and co-director Nate Adams – features Paul Newman (archive footage), Robert Redford, Patrick Dempsey, Mario Andretti, Jay Leno, Robert Wagner, Joanne Woodward (archive footage), Arthur Newman, Tom Cruise (archive footage), Michael Andretti, Bob Sharp, Sam Posey, Sebastien Bourdais and many other racers.

The world knows Paul Newman as an Academy Award winning actor with a fifty-plus year career as one of the most prolific and revered actors in American Cinema. (There’s still nothing like watching the Hollywood powerhouse team of Newman and Steve McQueen in THE TOWERING INFERNO.)

He was also well known for his philanthropy; Newman’s Own has given more than four hundred and thirty million dollars to charities around the world.

Paul Newman died Sept. 26, 2008 and for those of us who grew up in Connecticut, we know his connections ran deep. He trained as a actor at Yale School of Drama, made his home in Westport, was a fixture at Lime Rock Park in Salisbury and founded the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford. Founded in 1988 by Newman, who was a seasonal resident of Ashford, the camp is a nonprofit center for children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. The center started with 288 children in its first summer, and now serves thousands a year through on-site and outreach programs. The camp was named after the gang in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, in which Newman starred.

Newman article

Yet few know the gasoline-fueled passion that became so important in this complex, multifaceted man’s makeup. Newman’s deep-seated passion for racing was so intense it nearly sidelined his acting career. His racing career spanned thirty-five years; Newman won four national championships as a driver and eight championships as an owner.

The Dick Barbour Racing team – including Dick Barbour and actor, Westport resident and auto racing enthusiast Paul Newman – came in second at the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s oldest endurance sports car race.

PN2

WINNING: THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN will be in select theatres and iTunes on May 8th; Video on Demand on Friday, May 22.

For a list of cities showing the film, visit: http://www.newmanracingfilm.com/

https://instagram.com/newmanracingfilm/
https://twitter.com/NewmanRaceFilm
https://www.facebook.com/NewmanRacingFilm

paul newman

Review: ‘The Hammer’ on DVD

Zac:

Adam Carolla’s latest is a great little indie comedy that will go down as one of the better sports films of the last few years.

Carolla stars as Jerry Ferro, a handyman that has trouble keeping his day job, but finds peace in his boxing conditioning and classes that he teaches.   Jerry was once a Gold Glove boxer that never made it big for the lack of any real reason. With a knock out hook and the ability to take some punches made him a formidable opponent but his life steered away from that and he finds him self living the day to day grind.   Luckily for Jerry both a girl and a boxing comeback both pop back into his life at the same time and the story of The Hammer follows both of these comebacks.

The film is full of little twists and turns, so I will save those for you, but the story is solid and entertaining with Carolla supplying plenty of laughs.   There are a couple of sections throughout the film where they let Carolla just riff on a topic and the results are some great lines and funny observations and it all comes across very natural in the conversation among Carolla and his co-stars.   The romantic angle of the film also works really well with Carolla and Heather Juergensen playing off each other with ease.   The arc is even touching at times and Carolla’s Jerry can come across as very sad and humbling at times while not coming across as desperate and that really makes him very likable and the film feel real.

Now, if you thought the romance worked well, well the boxing works even better, as Corolla proves he is more than up to the task.   Carolla is so good in fact he has to have had some sort of substantial amount of experience in the past.   The boxing scenes look great and they are even able to inject a good amount of humor into them as well.

Carolla can’t deserve enough praise for his work in the film, and while it isn’t an Oscar caliber turn, he excels at the physical side while also handling the touching scenes very well on top of that and shows a great amount of range while perfectly capturing the attitude of that single middle aged man that is desperately trying to hold on to the things he loves in life.   I mentioned Juergensen’s work as the love interest and it is solid and works well in the picture.   She might not knock the socks off everyone, but she is cute, smart, and sweet and is incredibly likable, as we root for the two to end up together.

The Hammer is a pleasant and welcome entry to the sports film scene.   It is funny, with well shot action, and a story you can get behind.   While the film is definitely a low budget affair it doesn’t really hurt the believability of the film and actually helps authenticate it as a small time guy trying to get out of the small time life.   So run out and rent The Hammer, it works as a sports flick, a comedy, a rom-com, and has a little bit of something for everyone.

[rating:4/5]