The Flying Scotsman
I just came out of the theater after seeing a movie that I have anticipated for a while now. To begin with I have to say that the movie did not dissapoint the cyclist in me: that would be the part of me that loves the suffering that comes from spending time on my bike. That is the good form of suffering that leads to a great reward; even if that reward is just more suffering for longer and longer amounts of time.
Graeme Obree was a man who came from nowhere to dominate track cycling and shatter the world one-hour record even if just for a few years. He also battled depression that nearly killed him. Fortunately for the rest of the world, he lived; as did his legacy in cycling. Even if the 'superman position' that he used has since been banned, he left as indelible a mark on cycling as did Greg LeMond's use of aerobars in the 1989 Tour de France.
The acting in the movie was quite solid, even if the cycling scenes looked a bit forced. It must be hard to get actors to ride like true world-class cyclists!
The one thing the bugged me was the casting of Billy Boyd as Graeme's manager. I'm sorry -he is a great actor, but I kept picturing him as Merry from the Lord Of The Rings movies...
You get bonus points if you know that Graeme himself was the operator for the camera in the cycling scenes. Presumably that would be the camera trailing the cyclist on the velodrome.
Anyways, excellent movie; though if you have trouble understanding a strong Scotch accent, you may want to wait until the movie comes out on DVD so you can get the subtitles.
My overall rating: A
Casting: A-
Story: A+
Graeme Obree was a man who came from nowhere to dominate track cycling and shatter the world one-hour record even if just for a few years. He also battled depression that nearly killed him. Fortunately for the rest of the world, he lived; as did his legacy in cycling. Even if the 'superman position' that he used has since been banned, he left as indelible a mark on cycling as did Greg LeMond's use of aerobars in the 1989 Tour de France.
The acting in the movie was quite solid, even if the cycling scenes looked a bit forced. It must be hard to get actors to ride like true world-class cyclists!
The one thing the bugged me was the casting of Billy Boyd as Graeme's manager. I'm sorry -he is a great actor, but I kept picturing him as Merry from the Lord Of The Rings movies...
You get bonus points if you know that Graeme himself was the operator for the camera in the cycling scenes. Presumably that would be the camera trailing the cyclist on the velodrome.
Anyways, excellent movie; though if you have trouble understanding a strong Scotch accent, you may want to wait until the movie comes out on DVD so you can get the subtitles.
My overall rating: A
Casting: A-
Story: A+
posted by Mike Deitchman at
7:58 AM
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