Love the Beast

Madman Entertainment

In Cinemas 2009

On DVD July 17^th

R4 DVD

Love The Beast is actor and noted car lover Eric Bana's account of owning, building, rebuilding and ultimately racing the same car for a quarter of a century. At the same time it is also a reflection on identity, friendship and the things that really matter.

"When I was a kid," Bana explains in his voice-over, "I dreamed of being a race car driver." Inspired by the thrills and spills of the Bathurst races and romance of Mad Max, Bana persuaded his dad Ivan to buy him a rundown 1974 Ford XB Falcon GT coupe. Soon Bana and his mates begin to make the garage their own and turn that beaten up old car into something special.

Even though Bana soon became a big name in Hollywood he never gave up his Australian roots, his down to earth approach to life and his friends. Of course he now has more money to play with and the car is rebuilt on a more and more grander scale. When we see the final bright red muscle machine it is breathtaking, especially as we wonder just how much he has spent. Regardless of sponsorship, it must have cost a mint.

But what is so appealing is that Bana is not changed by his “star status”, he is still one of the team and treats his mates as he always has. The bonds of their friendship have spanned a lifetime and is at the heart of his experience of life. Bana regularly talks of their friendship throughout the film describing the car as the "campfire" around which friends and family gathered to work, joke and bond.

He seems to view Hollywood with a certain cynicism and while he certainly does his job and “walks the red carpet”, you can see that it is primarily just a job for him, not a way of life.

In 1996 Bana decided to enter Targa Tasmania, a closed road tarmac race which covers some 2,000 kilometres over 5-6 days. Bana instantly falls in love with the race and states he will be back every year. It takes him 11 years to make good on his promise ! The car has been rebuilt from the ground up, his friends and family are ready and the cameras are running – then within an instant nightmare becomes reality. Superbly presented with the phone call from his child asking how his father is after the accident, you know it is going to happen, but it still is quite a shock.

Along the way we also see interviews from Jay Leno (and see his superb collection of cars), English Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson and Dr.Phil McGraw, the American pop psychologist. The rock soundtrack is superb and the cinematography is marvellous with some great views of Tasmania.

Love the Beast is honest, down to earth and entertaining. We get a small glimpse of the reality behind the myth of Erica Bana as well as sense of just how important his mates are to him. However, above all, you come to realize how much he truly loves his car.

Targa Tasmania is now an annual event conducted each April. The present format is to conduct the event over six days (including a Prologue) on some 2,000 kilometres of tarmac roads. Targa Tasmania caters for up to 300 select cars. Entries are selected from Applications to Compete, by a Vehicle Selection Committee. More than 200,000 people watch Targa Tasmania each year over the six days, while an international viewing audience of over 480 million has been estimated for each event.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.4 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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