Framing John DeLorean Review – Strap In For A Turbo Charged Must See

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Category: Indies, Docs, Foreign Film

Published on Tuesday, 11 June 2019 21:52

Written by Janet Walker

Framing John DeLorean, from Sundance Selects and 9.14 Pictures, brings to the screen the story John DeLorean, the renegade automaker, and maker of probably one of the most recognized sports cars in the world and an FBI sting.

Directed by Don Argot and Sheena M. Joyce and written by Dan Greeney and Alexandra Orton, Framing John DeLorean stars Alec Baldwin, Morena Baccarin, Josh Charles, Dean Winters, Michael Rispoli, Jason Jones, Dana Ashbrook, Josh Cooke, Sean Cullen, William Hill, Eli Tokash, Kayla Foster, Grayson Eddey and Porter Kelly.

John DeLorean, for those who don’t know his car outside his most famous reference in Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future trilogy, began his life in Detroit, Michigan, at a time when the flourishing auto industry was the draw for many.

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As the story goes it weaves the documentary with a reenactment and throughout the film we see the black and white photos of a by gone era, when a young DeLorean, a marketing and engineering whiz, was ready to shake things up at General Motors.

It’s the late 1950’s and General Motors is in its glory days. The upstart DeLorean gets the nod and he is chosen to head up Pontiac, which at the time was affectionately known as the Old Ladies Division.

DeLorean was savvy and a big picture thinker. Counting on a car culture future, he decides, and this is one of the live action scenes, with DeLorean played by Alec Baldwin, examining the Pontiac engine. With a pop of the hood, we are looking at the standard V8 engine. DeLorean is reviewing it and with one sentence he changed the course of history.

“I thought it would be sexier,” he said. After some modifications, a more powerful V8 engine, DeLorean introduces the GTO. His ability to skirt the system, modifications were within his power, new models were escalated upstairs for review. And marketing this bad ass muscle car to a new generation of road warriors catapulted him to management and the car, the GTO, revitalized the division.

Throughout the film, we are seeing someone who is savvy, sophisticated, successful, and a solid opportunity to become the youngest president of General Motors. And someone who wanted more. He was the perfect Hollywood story, as we are told. Leaving Detroit behind he moved to La-La-Land, lured by the land of possibility.

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In L.A., DeLorean went Hollywood, with marquee looks, a supermodel wife, two children, he was suddenly an overnight success. Notwithstanding the lure of bright lights, he wanted to build a new kind of sports car. He was a man with vision and even with the designs and prototype of the DeLorean DMC, we see he created a car that had the word entrance written all over it. From the moment the DeLorean pulled up and the doors flipped out and up, it was all about appearances.

Unfortunately, for DeLorean it was also all about money. It’s now 1980’s he has been riding high for some time and his car company is draining him. He calls a neighbor and suddenly the two are wheeling and dealing.

Unbeknownst to John, the neighbor is a paid FBI informant, and the meetings have all been recorded. From the moment John asks if the Colombians sell Coffee to the time when the FBI brings in nearly 55 pounds of cocaine and places it in front of him, he is slowly becoming the pawn in an FBI sting.

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For those old enough to remember John DeLorean, creator of the exotic sports car, a former Auto Executive, was arrested in an F.B.I. sting operation. What follows is a battle for freedom.

Breaking the traditional documentary rules with the live action inserts, the directors interview experts or those who were privileged to be a part of DeLorean's world.

For some, it wasn’t as golden as others remember and even with the glamour, Hollywood high life, cocaine entrapment, an F.B.I. sting, a storied auto exec and famed automaker, Framing John DeLorean has more real action points than most films that are green lite today.

Alec Baldwin leads the cast, many of whom are recognizable, as they play the roles in this mini film. Baldwin is shown in hair and make-up as the team works off images for exactness in styling, in facial build, turning him into the late auto maker and accused cocaine distributor, as he explains his process which is rare that prep scenes are kept and somehow this works to build a layer to John DeLorean, the man behind the make-up.

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Framing John DeLorean, a documentary with live action reenactments, plays very well and is very interesting. It is in limited release. Check theaters for local listings or check any of the streaming platforms for times. See it.