One of the most touching car commercials I’ve ever seen was actually a Super Bowl commercial from Audi. It depicted a retired astronaut that seemed to be sadly missing the life he used to have, so his son surprised him with a drive in the Audi R8 V10 Plus to give him back the feeling of space flight. The commercial is touching and exciting and features one of the coolest cars currently on the road. This new short film does something very similar, except with a retired racing veteran and his son.
The film starts out with a man staring at a picture of himself that reads “Racer of the Year: Rick Winston”, as he can hear the memories of his name being announced at the end of a race. As he sits there, remembering his past, his son is celebrating his 16th birthday and his new driver’s license in another room. His son walks into the room and we see that the father, Rick Winston, is wheelchair-bound and clearly missing his past. His son asks if he’s ready and they go out to the garage to see a BMW M2 waiting for them in the dark.
His son hands him his old racing suit that has his name on it and they head of to the track, with his son at the wheel for the first time with his new license. As they hit the track, Winston gets visions of his old life, the E36 M3 racing cars he used to drive. He starts getting flashbacks of his racing days, as his son pulls up to the starting line.
As they blast around the track, his flashbacks keep coming, almost mirroring what they’re doing in the present. Except, in the present, his son is at the wheel and not him, making him happy and proud. The screen then reads “What Drives You” as they drive off into the distance. Then it reads, “Sometimes we need our fathers. Sometimes they need us.”
It’s a touching little short film about the relationship between a father whose career and passion was cut short due to injury but is being kept alive vicariously through his son. I think that’s something a lot of people can relate to and it’s on that makes for a great little short film.
