A number of films in the 1960s and early 70s challenged conventional notions of "victory", "success" and "winning" ("Smile", "Downhill Racer", "The Candidate", "Bad News Bears", "Slap Shot"). One of the more obscure ones was 1969's "Winning", directed by James Goldstone.
The plot? Paul Newman plays Frank Capua, a professional race car driver whose obsession with being top dog isolates him from his wife (Joanne Woodward). As a response, she embarks on an affair which wrecks the couple's marriage. Sounds clichéd? Maybe. And yet virtually every sequence in Goldstone's film is approached from a fresh angle. Newman and Woodward, married in real life, are particularly good, the duo telling a story of shattered marriage with hushed whispers and naturalistic dialogue.
7.9/10 - Worth one viewing.
The plot? Paul Newman plays Frank Capua, a professional race car driver whose obsession with being top dog isolates him from his wife (Joanne Woodward). As a response, she embarks on an affair which wrecks the couple's marriage. Sounds clichéd? Maybe. And yet virtually every sequence in Goldstone's film is approached from a fresh angle. Newman and Woodward, married in real life, are particularly good, the duo telling a story of shattered marriage with hushed whispers and naturalistic dialogue.
7.9/10 - Worth one viewing.