Crash and Burn

A documentary that balances between life choices and life prerogatives. Tommy Byrne had all the talent in the world but no money to go with it, in a world such as motorsports where they really open up doors. On the other hand you can say that he did get enough chances to succeed but never dropped his bad habits or softened up his attitude.

What is sad is that as the film goes by, it tries to get across the message that Tommy has left in the past any feelings of resentment and bitterness. But in reality that doesn't seem to be the case. And to be totally frank, i might had the same feelings as him, knowing that a talent as big as his (maybe the biggest in the world at the time) didn't get enough slack in an uptight corporate world that he resented as a way of life.

As a motor racing fan I was glad to have watched this and my score reflects the work of the documentary makers who I thought did a good job.However the driver Tommy Byrne is the sort of person that I would run a mile from. Not an easy watch because he comes across as so bitter and twisted.

While I enjoyed this documentary as well as Senna's documentary, they each missed something I am intensely curious about: what were they doing that enabled them to drive so much faster than the others? Both documentaries just called it "talent". Talent isn't magic pixie dust, they were doing something different, what was it?

Were they more precise in picking the line and when to brake? Were they better able to drive at the limit of the car without going over? Were they fearless and took more risks? Were they more aggressive and able to intimidate other drivers into letting them take the faster line?

Early in his career, the move said Tommy always drove flat out, and crashed a lot. This sounds like it could be how he acquired his skills, but there wasn't any followup on it.

I am an avid race fan and was surprised that I had never heard of Tommy Byrne. He lived a rock star life and was the "Ricky Bobby" of F1 was either first or last. He was hugely competitive but rubbed people the wrong way and despite his speed and raw aggression burned out quickly in professional racing.