By Curt Schleier
It is the inspirational story of Scottish cyclist Graeme Obree, who came out of nowhere to win several world titles. It is the little guy taking on the establishment and winning, a tale of a man overcoming his demons.
Quite frankly, I am a sucker for these kinds of films. I cheered for the HOOSIERS. I still REMEMBER THE TITANS. And when RUDY finally got into a game, my eyes welled up. But in a very manly way.
THE FLYING SCOTSMAN is very much like those films. I loved it. But there was a little problem. The movie was presumably filmed in Scotland and used Scottish actors. Or actors who sounded like they were Scottish; and by sounded like they were Scottish I mean they were indecipherable. There were some sections of the film where I couldn’t make out what was being said. And it’s not like I didn’t try.
In fact, I poured myself a wee dram of whiskey hoping the Scotch would make me more receptive to the Scottish – but sadly that didn’t work.
Still, I got the gist of it. Obree (Jonny Lee Miller) lived in the small town if Ayrshire and was given a bicycle as a child. We next see him as the owner of a failed bicycle shop. When he races the man who purchased his remaining store stock – Obree on a bicycle, the man in his truck – it soon becomes clear Graeme is not only an excellent rider, but passionate about the sport and fearless as well.
He lacks the resources that the cycling stars have – the money to devote to training, the sponsorship of bicycling manufacturers, the time to train. Still he persists in pursuit of a crazy dream – the operative word there being crazy (more on that later). But eventually he builds his own racing bike out of spare parts (including the family washing machine) and attempts to break the World Hour Record – that is, go further than anyone else on a bicycle in one hour. He fails. But he rented the velodrome for a day and came back the next morning to try again. This time he succeeded, an amazing feat, comparable to a man ran two marathons in a week or less; it just isn’t done.
The World Cycling Federation would have none of it. As always, the establishment resisted anything new – and his homemade bike and his crouch down racing position to reduce wind resistance were innovative and therefore anathema to them. So they developed rules to stop him; and when he changed his bike to meet their objections they changed the rules again.
Ultimately, he won the World Pursuit Championship, but between these events he had serious bouts of depression and on at least one occasion attempted suicide.
THE FLYING SCOTSMAN worked for me on a number of levels. First there’s the story of Obree’s achievements. You’re likely to ride a roller coaster of emotions with him, from joy to anger at the WCF.
It’s also an amazing love story. Obree began pursuing his dream shortly after his wife gave birth to their child. Though short of money and aware of his moods, Anne (Laura Fraser) not only stood by but encouraged her husband to dream. And it wasn’t just Anne. A close friend, Malky (Billy Boyd), becomes his manager and confidante and a minister, Baxter (Brian Cox) not only encourages him but helps him deal with his illness. All the performances are excellent.
This is the first film for Douglas Mackinnon, whose previous experience was directing television shows. He’s done an outstanding job, particularly in the racing sequences. I’m not sure how he got some of those shots, but you can see the exertion and pain on Lee Miller’s face.
First of two nits: the film attributes Obree’s depression to bullying when he was a child. In fact, Obree was bi-polar, and bullying doesn’t make you that. It is a chemical imbalance, and I think to present it otherwise does a disservice to those thousands of people who suffer from it.
Second of two nits: There are really no special features except trailers for other movies and scene selection. This film deserved more. Had I been in charge I would have interviewed Graeme Obree himself; he served as a consultant on the film and should have been willing to do at least that.