Uploads from Omeleto

Currently Playing: UNDERFUNDED | Omeleto

A driver tries out. Baker is a champion-level race car driver who is ordered by his team owner to test and coach a young prospective driver for the day. Baker is already testing out heralded prospect Lacy Summers, who hails from a racing family. But the new driver, JD Marshall, is an unknown quantity. Baker isn't keen to put these younger drivers through their paces, as he realizes they may replace him. But he's beholden to the team owner. JD struggles with the intensity of the driving and Baker's abrasive style of coaching, but finds his footing with help and encouragement from Lacy. It's enough for the team owner to offer a spot to JD -- but only if he commits considerable financial resources. Baker is angry that the upstart's familial wealth gets him a spot, as he confronts the harsh financial realities of his sport and makes a choice about his future with the team. Directed and written by Tommy Joe Martins, this compelling, dynamic short sports drama gives viewers an inside view of competitive race car driving, both on and off the track. Like many films of its genre, it's almost aerodynamic in its sleek, fast-moving visuals, conveying the sharp twists and turns on the racetrack and making for an often lively viewing experience. But the complex, layered writing also lays out the politics and financial demands off the course, which shape the teams and drivers in indelible, often difficult ways. In doing so, it respectfully but clearly questions a world where talent is often a secondary consideration to funding. Martins is a former competitive driver himself, and his background informs the excellently layered storytelling, rife with gritty detail and a sense of authenticity. It takes a while to lay out all the pieces: the promising neophytes who have a leg up due to their wealth or their connections and background, the experienced champion who built his career with little more than his talent, a team owner thinking not just about being competitive but getting everything paid for. It also takes pain to capture the dizzying complexities of racing itself, as JD is put through his paces with some laps around the track. It also establishes the financial stakes of racing: how much it costs to maintain cars and a team, and how much drivers and owners have at stake. Actor Patrick Logan as Baker leads the excellent ensemble, undergirding his aura of experience with the fears and anxieties of a man eyeing a new generation arising after him. He also conveys his genuine passion for his sport, which is why he is put out to watch as one of those future rivals earns a spot, not because of talent but money. But his indignation is not just out of a love of racing or a veteran facing competition -- it's also a fundamental injustice, an outrage at the very notion of competition itself. He faces a crossroads that's not just personal, but also moral and ethical, and it shadows his future as he comes to a choice. It brings UNDERFUNDED to a fascinating conclusion, making clear there's much more to this world and story and sparking our curiosity about what else is underneath the speed and bravado of a breathtaking sport. UNDERFUNDED. Courtesy of Tommy Joe Martins at https://instagram.com/tommyjoemartins.