Release: Now available on DVD
Duration: 88 minutes
Rating: M (coarse language)

Eric Bana’s charming directorial debut, Love the Beast, is a loving, affectionate tribute to all things that go vroom. In an era of Michael Moore-era cynicism, there is something refreshing about such a positive documentary, an exploration of Bana’s 25-year old love affair with his first car, a 1978 XB Falcon Coupe.

Featuring celebrity soundbites and cameos from talk show host Jay Leno, Dr. Phil McGraw and Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, Bana’s film considers the importance of his car’s presence in his life. Despite these cameos, Love the Beast emerges as a personal portrait of ordinary, Melbournian men and their attachment to their vehicles. Significantly, the film also features Darryl, a Victorian who has spent much of his life rebuilding his car, as well as Bana’s own father, whose reverence and appreciation for his own machine has meant that he has not driven it since his son’s wedding day more than 10 years ago. With honest humour, the film demonstrates the singular, unique relationship that each person develops with their “beast,” investing the vehicles with the genuine feeling and emotion more obviously associated with a friendship.

The director views his Falcon Coupe as an important companion, with distinctively human quirks. As an exploration of men, the documentary is a fascinatingly heartfelt exploration of man’s obsession with machine. The documentary subjects (including the likes of Bana’s family and friends) see cars as a significant emotional support in order to become a more interesting, rounded person and active family man. Leno himself says, “When you come home smelling like transmission fluid, it’s bad, but it’s not like hookers and crack.”

A strong, visually interesting documentary, Love the Beast certainly looks polished and professional. Far more investing than a series of sound bites and talking heads, the film is edited with accomplishment and skill- the film interweaves smooth, epic helicopter imagery of rainforest racetracks to the milieu of Melbourne suburbia, mechanic oil shops and a stunning New York skyline (as well as footage from George Miller’s Mad Max). It also features an exuberant soundtrack, with music by INXS, Powderfinger, Bernard Fanning and James Reyne.

Love the Beast emerges as a tad melodramatic (“Love is love. Love is never wrong,” Bana’s mate says to Darryl), but there’s so much devotion pored into the car that it is difficult not to invest into these blokes’ sincere fondness for their “beasts.” Personal and entertaining, this earnest tribute to machine finds interesting insight into the importance of finding the time to maintain one’s dreams and invest in outside interests even against emotional hardship.

Andrew Moraitis