After watching the trailer for this film, I believed that it was a Hollywood movie. So, going into the cinema’s with high expectations, I was instantly impressed and stunned by the reveal that not only was the film made in Western Australia, but was filmed at tracks that I and many others had been to.

My father has raced his entire life, and so, while watching the movie, I understood the emotions that the protagonist, played by William Lodder, was feeling throughout the film—particularly of him getting the ‘racing bug’, as described in the movie.

The casting and acting of the film were one of the highlights, containing popular Australian actors such as Richard Roxburgh as Patrick, Jack Hooper’s mentor and Dan Wyllie as Barry the cop. The roles felt well matched, establishing strong realism and emotion. These casting choices were vital in the mixture of relationships between certain characters, for example Jack and his mother, and Jack and another character Mandy, played by Anastasia Bampos.

The film itself, directed by Owen Trevor, is incredible and harnesses the nature not only of racing, but of Australia’s love for motor racing and the ability to showcase elements of WA’s popular areas—which is great from a tourism standpoint. There were obvious inspirations from Karate Kid in the style of Patrick’s teaching manner, which were very well placed.

The cinematography, by Peter Eastgate, was stunning within the film, including variations of drone shots, tracking shots and what felt like handheld or point of view shots, which were all creative and made the film more interesting. However, there were drone shots of the ocean which felt irrelevant and may’ve been included to make WA look more appealing. The only critique I could make is that these drone shots seemed out of place.

While many elements of the film were incredibly well done, the plot line and writing, by Steve Worland, felt extremely basic. The notion of two competitive racers neck and neck with the underdog prevailing, and the comparison of rich racers against less fortunate ones has been seen plenty of times before. The happy ending and romance elements also seemed cliché, which lowered the overall enjoyment of the film.

I urge you to see it, not only due to it being a local film, but also due to its high quality. It’s best suited for kids and families.

Go! will be in cinemas 16 January 2019