?
Portrait
Of a Racer And His Widow
A widowed
mother seems an unlikely hero of a sports documentary, though “hero” may not be
quite the right descriptor for Susie Wheldon and “ The Lionheart” is much more
than a competition story. The title refers, ostensibly, to Dan Wheldon, the
two-time Indianapolis 500 winner who died in a nightmarish, 15-car crash at the
Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October 2011. Ms. Wheldon’s dilemma is how—and
maybe why—she should direct her two young sons as they chase their own dreams
of a career with IndyCar.
Dan
Wheldon himself proves an almost ethereal presence in this grief-struck film by
producer-director Laura Brownson (“ The Rachel Divide”). We see the British
driver in his early days of karting (the junior version of big-time,
open-wheeled racing), on the scene of his later successes and in various
offtrack interviews. He is remembered,?not always warmly, but with
admiration, by the fellow racers on the Andretti Green Racing team—Dario
Franchitti, Tony Kanaan and Bryan Herta—with whom he won his first Indy 500 in
2005. It was a Bryan Herta Autosport car that Wheldon was driving in the fatal
2011 race, which is remembered by many in the film as an accident waiting to
happen, a “pack racing” situation involving a 34car field. Wheldon was pursuing
a $5 million bonus offered by IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard if Wheldon could win
the race after starting in?last place. Mr. Bernard, we are told in an end
title, declined to be interviewed for the film.
But it
is Susie Wheldon who is the soul of “ The Lionheart” and whose courage, mixed
with confusion, marks it as a story that certainly transcends the track.
What
does a mother do when her sons— Sebastian and Oliver, age 12 and 10 at the time
of filming—want to continue their missing father’s legacy, show some talent,
and join the Andretti organization as junior drivers? Does she follow them to
Las Vegas—the?site of her husband’s?death—for one of their
own
sport’s biggest events? She is never less than supportive of her sons and their
ambitions. They are not experienced enough to recognize the situation they have
put her in; getting behind the wheel is clearly a way of coping with being
fatherless, and with the shadow of their famous dad. Though it is only vaguely
acknowledged, they are far too young to have anything but the faintest memories
of the man himself. But they certainly know who he was.
Rather
than wallow in the family’s bereavement, Ms. Brownson operates in two lanes—one
the Dan Wheldon story, the other that of his survivors. The interviews with the
Andretti drivers, with owner Michael?Andretti, with racing great Scott
Dixon and with Dan’s father, Clive, are all terrific; the footage of Ms.
Wheldon
is nothing short of intrusive at times. But, as is made very clear, she’ll do
anything for her boys.
The
Lionheart
Tuesday,
9 p.m., HBO?Mr. Anderson is the Journal’s TV critic.
?
Dan Wheldon's two young
children want to continue their father’s legacy.
XXXX
