I saw the movie last night. The Mrs was using the car carting the kids about, so I had to ride my bike into town to meet the folks I was going with. I thought it was apt that I should ride my fixer so by the time I got to their house at the top of Brookyn Hill my legs were seriously munted.
The guys I went with were not cyclists at all, but they loved the movie. Its been playing for 3 days now in Wellington, altho there were only about 10 of us in the theatre last night. Many cyclists have said to me that its their favorite movie and it would be the best cycling movie I have seen too.
The movie manages to come across in a really balanced way that has appeal to the man/woman on the street and still manages to appeal to the hard core cyclist. The UCI (called the WCF in the movie) get pretty demonised, but everyone else comes out pretty well. Chris Boardman comes over as a genuinely good sportsman which is pretty much the feeling I got from reading the book.
The topic of depression is dealt with very well. Its always there in the background, but doesnt overwhelm the movie. With 1 in 5 people in this country being afflicted at some stage in their life its a topic that could do with more coverage. I am sure Graham isnt the only athlete to have suffered.
The movie seems to finish quite abruptly. There was a lot more that could have been put in, but it would possibly have ended up looking repetitive in the end, as it was more of the same. Wins more, position banned, more downers etc.
I would definitely recommend it as a great movie to watch, for cycling fans, and non-fans. Maybe the non-fans would enjoy it the most, because they will know less about it, and be gobsmacked at the way things happened. The people I went with were.
As usual, a movie never matches up to the book, but thats a tall order in 105 minutes. The best way to do it would be movie first, then book.
Its an awesome book, and a great movie.
Audio here from review and chat to the director
Obree in a recent race.
Wikipedia
The guys I went with were not cyclists at all, but they loved the movie. Its been playing for 3 days now in Wellington, altho there were only about 10 of us in the theatre last night. Many cyclists have said to me that its their favorite movie and it would be the best cycling movie I have seen too.
The movie manages to come across in a really balanced way that has appeal to the man/woman on the street and still manages to appeal to the hard core cyclist. The UCI (called the WCF in the movie) get pretty demonised, but everyone else comes out pretty well. Chris Boardman comes over as a genuinely good sportsman which is pretty much the feeling I got from reading the book.
The topic of depression is dealt with very well. Its always there in the background, but doesnt overwhelm the movie. With 1 in 5 people in this country being afflicted at some stage in their life its a topic that could do with more coverage. I am sure Graham isnt the only athlete to have suffered.
The movie seems to finish quite abruptly. There was a lot more that could have been put in, but it would possibly have ended up looking repetitive in the end, as it was more of the same. Wins more, position banned, more downers etc.
I would definitely recommend it as a great movie to watch, for cycling fans, and non-fans. Maybe the non-fans would enjoy it the most, because they will know less about it, and be gobsmacked at the way things happened. The people I went with were.
As usual, a movie never matches up to the book, but thats a tall order in 105 minutes. The best way to do it would be movie first, then book.
Its an awesome book, and a great movie.
Audio here from review and chat to the director
Obree in a recent race.
Wikipedia
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