Complaints about the 'plot'

So many comments and reviews complain about the 'plot' of Grand Prix. What were they looking for? A cross-section of different personalities united by their desire to win races and their having to deal with danger. Their personal relationships are impacted by their obsession and the realization that it could all end at any time. What else is the 'plot' going to be?

Was Frankenheimer supposed to dust off the old Hollywood plot of the cocky, reckless driver who winds up killing his best friend, takes to drink but is convinced by his girlfriend to come back and win the big race?

Should we have one of the racers be a superhero and they are going so fast because they are being chased down the track by zombies?

How many racing "plots" are there?

I know one I'd like to see, although it would have to be a mini-series. Something great could be done with racing from the mid-thirties to the late 40's, when it became a battle of nations, with Hitler financing Mercedes and Auto-Union as a precursor of the Wehrmacht. Lots of great individual stories, like Englishman Dick Seaman driving for Mercedes and marrying a German bride. Then comes WWII, where the cast of characters goes through many adventures, (as the real people did), and then after the war they return to racing but with the scars of the war not yet fully healed.

That would be great but that's not "Grand Prix", which takes place in the 60's long after that period. They came up with the best "plot" they could: one that supports the film and gives it structure but which doesn't get in the way.




The past is a series of presents. The present is living history we are privileged to witness