By Ned Jordan
The Gumball Rally is an opportunity for those with too much time and money on
their hands to race high-end sports cars across three countries. It is also a
chance for them to complain incessantly that the local police dont seem to
realize that the wealthy are above the law and to take time out of the race each
evening for bouts of binge drinking. Now this narcissistic homage to the ego of
the impossibly rich has been captured on DVD under the guise of a glimpse into a
world of adventure and glamour. Lucky us.
When I watch a pseudo-documentary of this nature, I enjoy getting a glimpse
of the countries visited, learning something about their people, and watching
the cultural exchange between the participants and the local populace. I also
enjoy being given a glimpse into the psyche and motivation of the participants
to see what drives them to undertake such an endeavor and how the experience has
changed them, especially in ways they never expected. Sadly, there is absolutely
none of this in 6 Days in May. Instead, we barely get a look at the countries
the race crosses France, Spain, and Morocco and most of the locals we see
are trying to get out of the way of the idiots behind the wheels of the sports
cars as they drive on shoulders, sidewalks, and down the wrong side of the road.
We are instead treated to scene after scene shot within the cars in which we are
privy to the obscenity-laden, self-absorbed prattling of the drivers. Even
though the DVD tries to do some celebrity name dropping, all of the drivers
grabbing the vast majority of the screen time are people who I never saw before
but for whom I quickly developed a seething dislike.
Surprisingly, so much of the camera time is devoted to the witless prattle of
a small handful of the drivers and their companions to the point that you hardly
see all that much of the cars. For something that claims to be born from a love
of high-powered automobiles, it sure gives the cars precious little screen time.
There are a few sweeping shots of a few of the cars after they had parked for
the night and some shots of some of the most hare-brained driving maneuvers Ive
ever witnessed (and I live in LA, mind you, the capital of asinine driving
maneuvers and home of the biweekly street racer death). Passing a large truck on
the shoulder in a country where the shoulder is used by pedestrians and pack
animals and driving down the wrong side of the road forcing oncoming traffic to
the shoulder are just a couple of the idiotic things youll see these drivers
do. However, if youre looking for a Worlds Dumbest Car Stunts video youll
be sorely disappointed as there are very few of these scenes sandwiched between
long dialog sequences where the drivers discuss their love of porn with their
buddies, relate their lack of personal genital hygiene, or boast of how they use
their ample wealth to bribe police officers. The entire DVD only touches on the
consequences of such reckless driving once, and that is because the filmmakers
were lucky enough to catch one of the wrecks on film. A few shots of people
crying and a brief hes OK folks! and its back to the mind-numbing dialog
And if youre dying to get a glimpse into the wild Gumball parties that the
DVD alludes to, well, guess what, more disappointment is in store for you. Each
party scene consists of one or two short shots of people drinking. Woo-hoo!
Watch them drink for 15 seconds and then listen to them complain the next day
about their hangovers for five minutes. Theyre so wild!
Its obvious that the race participants think very highly of themselves and
that it is a privilege for you just to get to see them at play, but 6 Days in
May is like watching the home travel movies of some boring people that you dont
really like that much while they serve you stale popcorn and flat generic cola.
The DVD makes no effort to make things interesting to the viewer or to provide
any insight into anything whatsoever, so you shouldnt make any effort to watch
it.
Final Rating:
A crashing bore.
