From a production standpoint: this film is bloody brilliant. Expert craftsmanship all around from the photography, editing, acting. I imagine this was a very difficult film to make and was handled with expertise.

The screenplay was very disappointing, however.

The racing scenes are fantastic, but most of the non-racing scenes are just cookie-cutter and uninspired. If the racing scenes weren't so thrilling and engaging, this movie wouldn't have a leg to stand on. There are certain themes and elements which James Mangold does so well-and you can expect to see them in this film-but they're never really explored with much depth. Themes such as fatherhood, sacrifice, independence in spite of authority, what a man must do to take care of his family, a child's expectations of their father; all of these are just lifeless, dead on arrival.

There's one female character in the film and she gets to sit at home and be the supportive wife to Christian Bale's character. That said, this is one of Christian Bale's best performances. He steals every scene he's in-but, unfortunately he only is ever given the same 3 beats to play. How many times can you watch him get angry when someone tells him he can't do something? Entertaining as it may be, it grows stale after a while.

The two-and-a-half-hour run time feels like three. Fantastic editing not withstanding, at least thirty minutes of the film could have cut. Cut this film down by thirty minutes, and you have a serious Oscar contender. Keep it the way it is, and you have a real letdown of what could have been one of the year's best.