McLaren (12A) ***

Dir: Roger Donaldson

Runtime: 89 minutes

SINCE the success of Senna in 2010 the market for sports biopics, and films about merchants of speed in particular, has been a crowded one. Roger Donaldson’s polished documentary focuses on the legend who founded the eponymous motor racing team. Born in New Zealand, Bruce McLaren did not seem to be a natural fit in a world where wealth and glamour held sway, yet his devotion to the sport made him, in the words of Sir Jackie Stewart, “a superstar”. While the decision by Donaldson (The Bank Job) to dramatise parts of McLaren’s life makes for some awkward stretches, it is the archive footage that will be the draw here for fans of the sport.

The Red Turtle (PG) ****

Dir: Michael Dudok de Wit

With: Emmanuel Garijo, Tom Hudson

Runtime: 81 minutes

WHAT a thing of beauty Michael Dudok de Wit’s animated tale turns out to be. It hails from the great Studio Ghibli, so one expects a certain level of awesome loveliness, but The Red Turtle surpasses even those expectations. Like all the best ideas, it is wonderfully simple: a man is shipwrecked on a desert island, alone save for the wildlife around him. He has a choice: adapt and survive, or give up. But how to carry on when all seems lost? Not a word of dialogue but time flies by in this magical, dreamy, story about life, love, and the whole darn thing.

GFT from today; Filmhouse, Edinburgh, June 9-15