The Flying Scotsman
Wednesday, 22 Aug 2007 16:13
Jonny Lee Miller
Directed by Douglas Mackinnon, out June 29th, cinema, starring Jonny Lee Miller, Billy Boyd, Laura Fraser and Brian Cox, running time 102 minutes.
In a nutshell…
Rousing biopic, dark, funny, challenging.
What's it all about?
Rising from popular obscurity to smash the world one hour cycling record, Graeme Obree became an overnight sensation, not least for his home built bike, terrifying personal determination and lack of professional team support.
The film documents Obree's early life, touching on his struggles with deep depression, and culminates in his battles with world records, the world championships and the shifting rules and regulations of international cycling.
Famed for inventing a completely new racing position and incorporating parts of BMX bikes and the bearings of a washing machine into his bike, we see the private Obree training and racing to the absolute limits of human endurance.
Taking its lead from his autobiography of the same name, the film focuses on the height of Obree's career, fictionalising aspects of his life for dramatic effect, adding key characters and rewriting several details of his rise to the very top.
Who's in it?
Jonny Lee Miller handles the quiet, uncertain Obree remarkably well, offering an understated and nuanced performance. Although perhaps best known for roles in Trainspotting and Hackers over a decade ago, he shows a new maturity in this controlled performance.
Laura Fraser offers a feisty, defiant turn as wife Anne; Billy Boyd – he of hobbit fame – is the occasionally unnecessary comic foil to the more serious Obree, but is rarely convincing or compelling as his manager and friend; and Brian Cox is reliably weighty as a mentor to the young cyclist.
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars
Slim at best, though not through a lack of quality filmmaking. Although stepping into the tradition of British sporting underdog films, this lacks the out and out positivity so often rewarded at the Oscars – and is a far finer film for it.
What the others say
"Jonny Lee Miller plays the tough-minded loner who takes on the pompous cycling establishment – but in his hands Obree is not a particularly sympathetic or even interesting character. Uphill work." – The Guardian
"So while the film isn't totally accurate, it covers all the important stages in his journey to the top and does so in a highly inspirational and emotional voyage." – Road Cycling UK
"It's a thrillingly cinematic film – not just in the atmospheric racing scenes, but in the inventive camera movements and angles." – Empire
So is it any good?
A beautifully shot and intelligent take on Obree's life, offering genuine excitement and frustration as the young Scot battles personal circumstance, mental illness and one of the greatest prizes in cycling – the one hour track record.
However, the film progresses unevenly, with stunning cycling sections and sensitive scenes dealing with Obree's depression sitting awkwardly alongside light, often frivolous, comedic turns from Boyd, and curiously empty scenes featuring worldly-wise Cox as mentor and friend.
When the film shines it is quite wonderful, gripping the audience with nerve wracking close-ups of Jonny Lee Miller's contorted, sweating face as he pounds the pedals around the wooden boards of the velodrome. When it leans towards fictionalised sentimentality it, sadly, could be any other story of a rise to the sporting heights, pitched against all the odds.
This is a tremendous shame, because in many regards Obree's actual story – gently and movingly discussed in his autobiography – is all the more astounding than the unnecessary moments of dramatic licence. Obree did approve the filmmakers taking their own interpretation, but this results in key parts of his actual life being glossed over or forgotten.
It feels as is Miller understands Obree brilliantly, subtly observing mannerisms and portraying his dark times in a respectful and contained way, but that the filmmakers at times had an altogether different story in mind. This film certainly comes recommended, but with the caveat that the book is read shortly after.
7.5/10
Chris Wilson
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