AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

paradisebuglady I saw this "movie" in Charlotte, NC in 1969 as a 1st run, special release. Just saw it again on an obscure cable network (AntenaTV) that specializes in older (1950's to 1970's) TV and film. This weekend was a "Newman's Own Weekend" and one of the films shown was "Winning". In 1969 it was a 1st Date Movie & Dinner with the man I would eventually marry. He hated it (except for the soundtrack)and I loved it. Just enough soap mixed with the right amount of macho to please most. Admittedly, this was obviously Paul Newman's reason to get behind the wheel; the story/screenplay was about mid-line, but the duo of Newman & Woodward was enough to please most and Robert Wagner being ROBERT WAGNER didn't hurt. Also John Boy got face time with the A-Team. Dave Grusin's soundtrack takes me back 45 years; armed with a box of buttered popcorn, large fountain cherry Coke, trying to be a nice cool girl and hoping for the 2nd date. Thank you Paul and Joanne and Robert and Dave Grusin. You all shares so many gifts with us.

tieman64 A number of films in the 1960s and early 70s challenged conventional notions of "victory", "success" and "winning" ("Smile", "Downhill Racer", "The Candidate", "Bad News Bears", "Slap Shot"). One of the more obscure ones was 1969's "Winning", directed by James Goldstone.The plot? Paul Newman plays Frank Capua, a professional race car driver whose obsession with being top dog isolates him from his wife (Joanne Woodward). As a response, she embarks on an affair which wrecks the couple's marriage. Sounds clichéd? Maybe. And yet virtually every sequence in Goldstone's film is approached from a fresh angle. Newman and Woodward, married in real life, are particularly good, the duo telling a story of shattered marriage with hushed whispers and naturalistic dialogue.7.9/10 - Worth one viewing.

butchfilms I am a big fan of Paul Newman but this must be one of his lowest films, even though he is OK at it. I think this movie deserves 5.5 stars.One of the biggest problems is that it last 120 minutes, it should have lasted 20 minutes less. I think the plot was good but not the way it was developed.What I liked the most was the final scene between Paul and Joanne, this scene deserved to be in a much better movie. The race scenes are good.Frank Capua is a car racer who gets married with Elora who has a 16 years old son who gets along with him, but there will be serious problems in the couple when he puts his career before her...........I recommend watching it if it's on TV and you like old race cars movies or if you are a Paul Newman's die hard fan

Nazi_Fighter_David Newman is a successful driver who marries a small-town divorcée (Joanne Woodward), soon after they've met… As usual, he devotes too much time to his career and ignores everything else, and, as in "From the Terrace," Woodward turns in desperation to another man—here a rival driver (Robert Wagner). Newman finds them in bed, and becomes estranged from her (again, as in "From the Terrace"), but after winning the big race, he realizes his life is empty, and attempts a reconciliation (the theme of the "winner" who's really a loser).The relationship is superficially written, but Newman and Woodward make us care about it… Their first film together since "A New Kind of Love," it's their best since "The Long Hot Summer." They exude a naturalness, intimacy and spontaneous affection that one suspects come from their own feelings for each other… It is apparent in their first scene, where he is slight1y drunk, delightfully playful, and confident (but no longer unpleasant) in his attempt to pick her up; and she responds with smiles and applause at his tricks with a fireman's hat, but looks slight1y uncertain about this glamorous stranger… Following their wedding, they sit on a swing, drinking beer from cans, talking and laughing quietly… She describes her previous loneliness, and he responds, typically, "Beer's a lot less complicated." They smile, she rubs his back and leans her head on his shoulder: these are people who really know each other, and who have attained a maturity about themselves… Newman exhibits this maturity throughout… His loose, casual style, evident in "Cool Hand Luke," has given way to an almost complete mellowness… Perhaps because of the confidence gained from his directing experience, he has gotten rid of his mannerisms; and except for the intense determination he shows while racing, he's more relaxed than ever before… Although the script tells little about his past, there's a wealth of experience etched into his face, especially in his brilliant, silent reaction to finding the couple in bed—one of quiet resignation that suggests a lifetime of pain and frustration… Newman has many fine scenes of quiet underplaying: his camaraderie with Wagner early in the film; his solitude after the race; his genuine warmth in the relationship with his stepson (Richard Thomas). The scenes in which they drink champagne and come home drunk together project for the first time in Newman's career a really paternal feeling—only vaguely suggested in strikingly similar scenes in "Hud."