Rating of
2.5/4
"The Flying Scotsman" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/25/12
I normally avoid sports films because they're very predictable and essentially all the same; let's face it, if they'd f**ked it up, nobody would've made a film about them. The story of Graeme Obree however, is quite an interesting one. A former bicycle courier from a working class Scottish town, Obree went on to become double world champion on a bike he made himself out of old washing machine parts. He did this despite suffering from an intense depression that caused him to attempt suicide and the interference of the sport's governing body who repeatedly changed the rules to specifically try and stop him competing because his DIY attitude threatened the big money manufacturing concerns within the sport. As such it is a facinating combination of the usual triumph of the human spirit sports movie, human psychological drama and battle of the individual against overwhelming odds. As such it is much more interesting than your average sports film and rather better than the similar biopic of Ian Curtis, Control.
