NEW BROCK DOCO: GOOD OR BAD?

New Brock Doco: Good or Bad? – Photo: LAT

For a life story you couldn’t make up, Peter Brock’s tale of triumph and tragedy is over-dramatised by, let’s call them, film-makers.

REVIEW By MARK FOGARTY

Efforts to relate his tumultuous career on screen for the masses have been sensationalised.

Unnecessarily. The Brock saga needs no embellishment. The straight facts are full of action, intrigue and pathos. Hollywood script writers couldn’t concoct such twists of fate.

Another attempt to tell the Brock story has just arrived – and it, too, titillates more than fascinates.

‘Brock: Over The Top’ is a cinematic documentary that tries too hard to explain the enigma that was Peter Brock.

It is at least way better than the two-part TV biopic ‘Brock’ of a few years ago. But that’s not saying much.

‘Brock’ missed the mark, emphasising the salacious side of his roller-coaster career.

Channel 10’s small-screen drama offended his family, friends, colleagues and legion of fans by neglecting his incredible public appeal.

Brock was popular because of his charisma and devotion to fans. For all his flaws – and there were many – he gave fans time and respect.

He was genuinely interested in his followers and gave them a level of attention few of our sports stars – if any – have ever given fans.

And make no mistake: PB was a national sporting treasure on a par with Don Bradman, Jack Brabham, Rod Laver, Dawn Fraser and John Bertrand.

He was, as far as the public was concerned, ‘Peter Prefect’.

‘Brock: Over The Top’ is a worthy attempt to unravel the myth and magic of the man.

And so it should be. It is the product of acclaimed Australian film director Kriv Stenders – among whose credits include the successful movies ‘Red Dog’ and ‘Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan’.

And yet, it is a mish-mash of archive footage and contemporary interviews. And there are many, many perspectives. In an hour and 43 minutes, we hear from 26 living people and the voices of three deceased, including Brock.

Some were more relevant than others.

Brock’s stepson James, and his daughter Alexandria and son Robert, were emotionally moving. His brother Phil was bitter.

Leading motoring journalist Phil Scott was authoritative, but over-used. We needed to hear more from Brock’s arch-rivals Allan Moffat and Dick Johnson, who barely make cameos.

There is an undeniable emphasis on foibles rather than achievements. Brock’s death in 2006 is almost an afterthought rather than the dramatic, real-life crescendo it was.

The nation was gutted by Brock’s death in a scrapy car in a minor WA road rally.

In hindsight, it is all too easy to judge Brock by today’s standards. He easily fails outside the cockpit, where he was unarguably supreme at his peak in the 1970s and ’80s.

To resurrect Brock’s human failings and allude to his serial infidelities without hard evidence, as the documentary does, is revisionist history. Behaviour 40 or more years ago can’t be condoned, but it also can’t be judged by modern standards, either.

Anyone close to racing knows the stories of Brock’s wild life in the ’70s.

And he changed. Brock in the 1990s and early 2000s was an exemplary person. Until he dumped Bev for Julie. But that’s life.

I knew Brock for most of his career. We were near contemporaries. My first major interview with him was in 1973. We fell out many times over three decades, but he never held a grudge.

Brock was intriguing, baffling, complicated and annoying. But he was undeniably a star, even at his lowest.

In ‘Brock: Over The Top’, his costly fall-out with Holden over the Energy Polariser in 1987 is trivialised. Brock sails on regardless. Well, not quite.

It was the beginning of the end of his rise and fall – and rise and fall again.

He returned to Holden in the 1990s, only to be marginalised at HRT. He retired in ’97, making an ill-fated comeback in 2001-03.

He was a member of the winning Monaro crew in the ’03 Bathurst 24 Hours, giving him 10 Mount Panorama victories.

The documentary, as well-produced as it is, doesn’t really address his extraordinary appeal to and affinity with fans.

If you are a long-term or devoted motor racing follower, you know all these stories, good and bad. For the vox pop and younger audiences, it may be a new insight into an Australian sporting legend.

However, at least the first half of the documentary is very racing-oriented, assuming some knowledge of racing.

So what is it? History or homage? To me, neither. It sits in that netherworld of docu-drama.

It’s all very well revealing a person’s failings, but if he is a genuine hero, his strengths and positives also deserve recognition.

I await the film or documentary that tells the incredible Brockie story as it is – incredible, but real. The story you couldn’t make up.

‘Brock: Over The Top’ is worth watching if you’re invested. Otherwise, is it worth just under $20 to rent on various digital platforms? Marginal.

All heroes have feet of clay. Highlighting their failings is a human trait.

Peter Brock is a genuine legend who deserves to be revered and acclaimed.

The real ‘King Of The Mountain’ movie is waiting to be done.

‘Brock: Over The Top’ is being shown at selected cinemas where allowed. It is available to rent on Foxtel, Apple TV, Google Play, Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox.

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