When
he was a kid played by Sean Brown, Graeme Obree (Jonny Lee
Miller) was regularly beaten up by the local bullies, something
which heightened his chemical depression. So his father (Niall
Macgregor) bought him a fast bike, and soon the kid was flying
along the streets and winning races.
But cycling doesn't pay all that well, and with his bike shop
failing, he had to moonlight as a messenger in Edinburgh. Here
he meets his soon-to-be best friend and manager Malky McGovern
(Billy Boyd) and soon the pair, Graeme's wife Anne (Laura
Fraser) and a local pastor (Brian Cox) are planning how to break
the long standing hour distance record, which includes a
specially crafted bike made of old spare parts. But can he do
it? Funding is hard to get, and the organization that
adjudicates that sort of thing doesn't like him very much.
So the wars between Obree and the powers-that-be, and his inner
demons become the focus of the film, which is, for the most
part, one's standard feel-good sports movie, although it begins
with a suicide attempt. Always fun, those…
The acting is fine. Miller manages to do a great deal of emoting
through the film, and the conflict between his character and
Boyd's is something that one wouldn't expect in something like
this, although they had to kind of follow the facts of the case
[based on a true story and all] to some extent, the focus of
persecution, both real and imagined, is a good one, as it
genuinely adds to the drama.
If you like sports films, this is worth the bucks.
Eric Lurio
Richard E. Schiff
Richard E. Schiff
Richard E. Schiff
Richard E. Schiff Richard E. Schiff
Richard E. Schiff Richard E. Schiff
Richard E. Schiff Richard E. Schiff
Richard E. Schiff Richard E. Schiff
Richard E. Schiff Richard E. Schiff
Richard E. Schiff Richard E. Schiff
Richard E. Schiff Richard E. Schiff
Richard E. Schiff Richard E. Schiff
Richard E. Schiff Richard E. Schiff
Richard E. Schiff Richard E. Schiff
Richard E. Schiff
When
he was a kid played by Sean Brown, Graeme Obree (Jonny Lee
Miller) was regularly beaten up by the local bullies, something
which heightened his chemical depression. So his father (Niall
Macgregor) bought him a fast bike, and soon the kid was flying
along the streets and winning races. 
