Don’t mistake the cigar-chomping tycoon Alejandro Agag for a hippie. “I’m not an environmentalist. I’m a racing man,” he says to the directors Fisher Stevens and Malcolm Venville in their documentary “And We Go Green” (streaming on Hulu). Yet, when eco-conscious sponsors were beginning to steer away from Formula 1 cars, which have the miles per gallon of a military tank, Agag co-founded Formula E, a full-throttle racing series that involves pitting electric cars against one another in competitions from Hong Kong to Marrakesh. Stevens and Venville wager that glamour might be a better inducement to ditch combustion motors than statistics about greenhouse gases.
The cheery, lightweight documentary chases Formula E’s fourth season, which was blessed by Pope Francis and one of the film’s producers, Leonardo DiCaprio, who braves an actual taste of the go-go blend of glycerin and algae that powers the engines. While Agag admits some racing audiences miss that dinosaur bone rumble, Aquafuel has its charms. Zooming past the camera, the cars go pew-pew-pew like spaceships.
“And We Go Green” gives less attention to Formula E’s innovations — which, hopefully will make their way to sedate hatchbacks within the decade — than it does its generically square-jawed drivers, who are personally fueled by the need to prove they’re good enough for Formula 1. Their personal grudges struggle to propel the drama. But as the film loses focus of its own goal, one thing is clear: Everything runs on ego.
And We Go Green
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 39 minutes. Watch on Hulu.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
