Page 2 February 10, 2022
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Film Review
The Novice is a Rowing Drama
That Strives for Perfection
By Morgan Rojas for Cinemacy
Winner of Best U.S. Narrative Feature
Film at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, The
Novice is a college drama that shows the
dark side of striving for perfection. Picture
the adrenaline-inducing anxiety of Whiplash
combined with the relentless nature of
The Novice courtesy of IFC Films.
Black Swan and you’ll find The Novice fits
squarely in the middle of these hyper-intense
character studies.
The Novice follows Alex Dall (Isabelle
Fuhrman – Best Actress winner at Tribeca
Film Festival), a queer female collegiate
rower whose struggle with being a perfectionist
goes from being a positive attribute
to a cry for help. Over the course of a few
months, her dangerously obsessive pursuit
to attain straight A’s and stand out on her
school’s crew team affects her mental health,
physical health, and relationships with peers
and love interests alike. Alex doesn’t care
who she offends on the way up, as long as
she moves up.
The film is nontraditional in its editing
style with quick cuts and fast-paced shooting,
seemingly reminiscent of how I’d image
Alex’s mind to be: racing constantly. Its eerie
nature and gloomy aesthetic hums with desire,
doubt, and secrets.
The Novice is Lauren Hadaway’s directorial
debut, but the former competitive rower
didn’t need years of filmmaking experience
to successfully bring the rarely-seen portrayal
of women’s crew to the big screen. What’s
even more impressive are the dual storylines
that are equally fraught with increasing psychosis.
Not only is Alex developing gnarly
open wounds on her palms from the incessant
rowing, she is also stumbling through
a relationship with her Physics teacher’s
assistant, Dani (Dilone).
Set to a rich score by Alex Weston, The
Novice is a cautionary tale about what happens
when we push our human potential too
far. For Alex, “quitting” is the most offensive
word and “relaxing” should be viewed as a
privilege. Sadly, there are people who subscribe
to this way of thinking that, although maybe
not as severely as Alex, could alleviate the
self-appointed pressure to be perfect. Grit is
a great thing when used appropriately, and
as writer/director Lauren Hadaway shows
us in stark detail, there is such a thing as
taking it too far.
Now available to rent on VOD. •
Morgan Rojas
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John Morton from front page
show ever, the Rockford Files, typecast
as…a race car driver. “James Garner was a
very cool guy,” Morton said. “I just drove,
doubled for Robert Wagner.”
Morton moved to El Segundo after being
hired by Brock. He lives with his partner of
50-or-so years, Sylvia Wilkinson, an accomplished
journalist, who chronicled the exploits
of Morton and his racing team in the book,
The Stainless-Steel Carrot.
At one point, Bruce Mills sold a Jeep to
Morton. About four years ago, Mills asked
Morton that if he built a specific Datsun
race car, would Morton race it? Morton said,
“yeah, but I didn’t think that he would do it,
but he did.”
Mills grew up a fan of Morton’s, watching
him run his car at the Riverside racetrack. “He
was a hero,” Mills said.
Morton Vintage Racing in Monterey.
Mills and Morton built their friendship over
the years. “Even in his late seventies, he is
still very, very fast, and very, very smooth,”
Mills said. There is a race scheduled for May
in Sonoma, and if all falls into place, Morton
will be behind the wheel. “Between riding
motorcycles, and flying, and driving race cars,
there is very little motorized that he doesn’t
excel at,” concluded Mills.
Brock has recently visited Morton to have
him autograph a trove of Hot Wheels cars, the
510 BRE Datsun, which just happened to be
piloted by Morton back in the day. Brock said
it is the #1 selling Hot Wheel in the world.
Brock remembers first meeting Morton at
driving school. “He expected Carroll Shelby to
teach him, and he was really disappointed when
he got me, because he had never heard of me.
But he was a real talent,” Brock said. “Shelby
handed him a broom, but soon he became one
of the best fabricators in the shop. He spent
his life totally dedicated to being a race driver.
He is probably the most unappreciated driver
in the United States.”
When Ford took over Shelby American,
Brock looked for other employment. He later
hired John to be a BRE driver, and the collaboration
ended up yielding a couple of national
championships in the late 1960s and early ’70s.
“A very successful collaboration,” Brock said.
Randy Jaffe, who lives just outside of Atlanta,
is an uber-Morton fan. He saw Morton win
a national championship in a Datsun 240 Z
car when Jaffe was a kid. Jaffe built a replica
car, which Morton would later drive. Morton
called Jaffe “the most incredible fan that I
have ever had.”
Said Jaffe, who lives in Georgia: “When
he raced for me, at age 77 or 78, he had
better times that guys in their thirties, with
more horsepower. The guy can still drive,
flies’ airplanes, has a Jeep in Utah, he has
motorcycles…He just does not let father time
knock him down. He has raced at Le Mans
nine times, yet he never brags about racing,
never toots his own horn…he talks more
about airplanes than racing,” Jaffe said. “He
is the most humble, nicest, down-to-earth guy,
and he has done some things in his life that
people don’t know about because he doesn’t
talk about them. I do not know anybody else
like him. A legend.”
Said Joe Cavaglieri, Morton’s one-time crew
chief: “There is nobody you could trust more
putting him in a Vintage car that might be
worth $5 million. Racing is his whole being.
Even now, he will run Vintage races without
getting paid. He is as talented as they come as
a race car driver. Any day that you are around
John is a fun day.”
Nearly eighty years young, John Morton is
still “feeling the need for speed.” •
Actor Sung Kang and Morton. Photos Courtesy of Sylvia Wilkinson.
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