Winning (1969)

Absolutely Brilliant!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

If you were to actually delete all of the scenes in "Winning" that had anything to do with cars actually racing (which, themselves, weren't all that thrilling to watch, either), about all that would be left as a movie would be an almost unbearable continuation of some of the most dreadfully boring, melodramatic, soap opera slop that's ever been recorded on film.If nothing else, "Winning" was the sort of seen-it-all-before movie-experience that really made for a very effective sleeping pill.I can't begin to tell you how absolutely dull-dull-dull "Winning" was, especially if you take into account that its cast was headlined by the likes of Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and Robert Wagner.Like, weren't these apparent Hollywood "heavy-weights" supposed to be the absolute cream-of-the-crop, reigning supreme at the height of their popularity and careers? So, uh, what the frick went wrong here? Not only was there absolutely no chemistry happening between Newman & Woodward on screen (yet, at the time, these 2 were actually married to each other), but, their totally passionless love scenes had me actually believing that these 2 (in real life) must've loathed each other right to the very bone.Whatever the hell kept Newman & Woodward together (in their real marriage) for nearly 50 years certainly remains a complete mystery to me.When it came to the supposedly "exciting" racing scenes, Winning's obviously clueless editor might have done some real wonders had he taken the time and gone back to editing school. And, besides that, it certainly appeared to me that both the screenwriters and the director may have had a somewhat vague idea of what racing car movies were all about, but, in the long run, they unfortunately got it all wrong with this here picture.Had Winning's 2-hour running time been reduced by a good half-hour, then, yes, perhaps, that might have made this picture more easy to tolerate, but, as it stood, it was nothing but a tedious, drawn-out bore.With Winning ending its story on what I think was one of the most terrible and contrived notes in movie history, it seems that the only one who I'm sure came out ahead as a result of this farty fiasco film was the Goodyear Tire Co. whose blatant product advertising was ground into this viewer's face, over and over and over again, ad nauseum.V-room! V-room! Like, get me outta here, pronto!

First, I should say that I've never been into car racing. The only other racecar-themed movie that I've seen is "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" (which was certainly funny). That said, I didn't find James Goldstone's "Winning" to be a bad movie. Although the movie meanders a little too much, it was mostly a solid focus on the toll that racecar driver Frank Capua's (Paul Newman) obsession with winning takes on his marriage. The verbal exchanges between Frank and his despondent wife Elora (Joanne Woodward) run kind of long at times. The scenes of the races themselves make the sport look like a death wish. But overall it's a good movie, and it has a better ending than you'd expect.Also starring Robert Wagner, Richard Thomas, and a whole bunch of racers as themselves.

I first saw "Winning" in 1969 and was utterly unimpressed with it. When TCM recently showed it, I decided to watch it again to see if my opinion of it had changed after 36 years. Nope. Underwritten, episodic plot line, dull characters , documentary-style, almost indifferent racing footage and, worst, the usual restrained, passionless chemistry between Newman and Woodward. Whatever has kept these two together for almost 50 years remains a mystery. Both Woodward and Newman have shown a playful sexiness with other screen partners (most notably, Woodward in "3 Faces of Eve"). However, I wish they'd given Newman another love interest. About the only high point of "Winning" is Richard Thomas as Woodward's son. Thomas works very well with Newman. Maybe they should have made HIM Newman's love interest. Oh well. I give "Winning" a "5".

The feeling I had during the movie is: this could have been better if it was totally different: More relations between characters and less cars. And even when there is a race, we get weird 60's shots of people not even watching the race. How about more about the rivalry between Newman and Wagner. What does Joanne do- is she a housewife, raising by herself a child since he was three? Richard Thomas (Charlie) and Newman should have had more scenes before Charlie is sad of the breakup; I would have been sad losing a father like Newman, but we should see why Charlie is sad. Newman puts as much character to Frank as the script allows. Too long, not too predictable (not that there are any big surprises, other than the credits coming a bit early in the last scene). Paul and Joanne are great together, see Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990).