The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
The Great Race
Comedy · Adventure · Action · 1965
Professional daredevil and white-suited hero, The Great Leslie, convinces turn-of-the-century auto makers that a race from New York to Paris (westward across America, the Bering Straight and Russia) will help to promote automobile sales. Leslie's arch-rival, the mustached and black-attired Professor Fate vows to beat Leslie to the finish line in a car of Fate's own invention.
Movie details
The Great Race
“The movie with 20,000-miles or one-million-laughs guarantee!”
1965 Comedy · Adventure · Action 2h 40m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.1 / 10
Community rating
Professional daredevil and white-suited hero, The Great Leslie, convinces turn-of-the-century auto makers that a race from New York to Paris (westward across America, the Bering Straight and Russia) will help to promote automobile sales. Leslie's arch-rival, the mustached and black-attired Professor Fate vows to beat Leslie to the finish line in a car of Fate's own invention.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Great Race?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry
Animation · 2005
After being evicted from their old house by Tom's owner for causing major damage, cat and mouse Tom and Jerry enter a race entitled the "Fabulous Super Race" to win a mansion.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Family · 1968
A hapless inventor finally finds success with a flying car, which a dictator from a foreign government sets out to take for himself.
Henry Danger: The Movie
Action · 2025
Henry Hart meets a superfan—eager to fight crime with Kid Danger—who comes into possession of a device that can open up alternate realities. Facing a wild ride, Henry will need his best friend Jasper and his new superfan sidekick to find his way out or be stuck in another dimension forever.
Around the World in 80 Days
Adventure · 1956
Based on the famous book by Jules Verne the movie follows Phileas Fogg on his journey around the world. Which has to be completed within 80 days, a very short period for those days.
Extinct
Animation · 2021
Op and Ed, two adorable donut-shaped animals - flummels - accidentally time-travel from 1835 to modern-day Shanghai. There they discover traffic, trans fats, and worst of all, that flummels are now extinct. It's up to this bumbling pair to save themselves and their species...and, just maybe, change the course of history.
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo
Romance · 1977
Herbie, the Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own, is racing in the Monte Carlo Rally. But thieves have hidden a cache of stolen diamonds in Herbie's gas tank, and are now trying to get them back.
Cars
Animation · 2006
Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters.
Speed Racer
Family · 2008
Speed Racer is a young and brilliant racing driver. When corruption in the racing leagues costs his brother his life, Speed must team up with the police and the mysterious Racer X to bring an end to the corruption and criminal activities.
Herbie Fully Loaded
Comedy · 2005
Maggie Peyton, the new owner of Number 53 - the free-wheelin' Volkswagen bug with a mind of its own - puts the car through its paces on the road to becoming a NASCAR competitor.
The Cannonball Run
Action · 1981
A cross-country road race is based on an actual event, the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, organized by Brock Yates to protest the 55 mph speed limit then in effect in the U.S. The Cannonball was named for Erwin G. "Cannonball" Baker, who in the roaring 20's rode his motorcycle across the country. Many of the characters are based on ruses developed by real Cannonball racers over the several years that the event was run.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Blake Edwards
Written by
Arthur A. Ross
Jack Lemmon
Professor Fate
Tony Curtis
The Great Leslie
Natalie Wood
Maggie Dubois
Peter Falk
Max
Keenan Wynn
Hezekiah
Arthur O'Connell
Henry Goodbody
Vivian Vance
Hester Goodbody
Court is in session
Put The Great Race on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.