You are here:

Rat Race

Name: Rat Race
Director: François Leterrier
Released: 1980
Duration: 99 min

Representation Score

3.3/10

Limited

1980

Director

François Leterrier

Runtime

99 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

The film primarily serves as a character study of mid-life disillusionment. It offers a progressive critique by dismantling the idealized nuclear family, portraying the traditional provider role as a source of stagnation rather than fulfillment. However, the narrative is constrained by a singular male perspective. The absence of diverse racial and LGBTQ+ representation limits the scope to a narrow, socially homogeneous context. Ultimately, the film emphasizes individualistic artistic and romantic whims over broader demographic representation, focusing on class and professional status within a specific French social stratum.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does Rat Race have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film does not include any LGBTQ+ characters or non-straight relationships. The story focuses solely on heterosexual relationships involving the male protagonist.

How does Rat Race portray gender?

Fair

Gender dynamics revolve around the male protagonist's struggle with identity. Female characters influence his journey, but the story's direction remains centered on his decisions.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Rat Race?

Minimal

The story features a predominantly white cast within a French professional setting. There is no indication of racial diversity or casting that challenges historical norms.

How does Rat Race represent religion and culture?

Good

The film examines traditional Western family structures by presenting domesticity as a burden. It explores themes of individual pursuits versus social and familial stability.

Does Rat Race include disability representation?

Minimal

The narrative does not feature any characters with visible or invisible disabilities.

Present on Screen

Challenges traditional domestic hierarchies by depicting the male provider role as a source of stagnation.
Questions the sanctity of the traditional Western family unit through the protagonist's desire for freedom.
Explores themes of individualism and the pursuit of life outside mainstream societal structures.

Limited or Absent

Lacks racial and ethnic diversity, focusing on a homogeneous social circle.
Does not represent LGBTQ+ identities or non-straight perspectives.
Includes no characters with visible or invisible disabilities.

Official Synopsis

Young dynamic executive, married and father of two children, Jérôme Ozendron dreams of writing and escaping a life he considers mediocre. The meeting with a former comrade, who had become an actor, brought him into contact with the world of cinema. He meets, Natacha, a cover girl, for whom he is ready to give up, wife and children. Then he becomes the lover of Lilianne, a marginal who persecutes and pursues him. He quit his job to devote himself to writing a novel. But nothing goes as he wants.

How are these scores produced? →