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Bookmark this pageThe Flying Scotsman (2006)
Director: Douglas Mackinnon
Movie review
From Time Out London
Graeme Obree is a maverick pro cyclist from Scotland who, in 1993 and 1994, broke the world one-hour track record on a bicycle he built out of spare parts, including, would you believe, a ball bearing hub from a dismantled washing machine. With the aid of his wife (Laura Fraser), dedicated manager Malky (Billy Boyd) and confidant Douglas Baxter (Brian Cox), Obree (Jonny Lee Miller) set out for the velodrome and into the record books. But cycling’s governing body, the UCI (led by Steven Berkoff’s pedantic boss), deemed his hunched-over-the-bars riding position illegal, sending Obree spiralling into suicidal depression before coming out the other side and pulling it all off again.There’s much to admire here, even if you’re not into cycling. Like ‘The World’s Fastest Indian’ and, to some extent, ‘Billy Elliot’, the film has a pleasant feel-good factor tempered by moments of melancholy. Given the budgetry restraints, feature debutant Douglas Mackinnon’s made a fine fist of a great little underdog story. It’s perfectly timed, too, as it coincides very nicely with the London leg of the forthcoming Tour de France.
Author: Derek Adams
Time Out London Issue 1923: June 27-July July 3 2007
User reviews of this film
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- Catherine said...
- Posted on Jul 15 2007 23:37 Very powerful and thought prevoking, highly recomended
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- WAINY said...
- Posted on Jul 01 2007 21:42 This film is absolutely inspirational and is bound to become a classic British (sorry Graeme) Scottish film. I knew a little bit about Graeme Obree from a friend at work who is a keen cyclist but after seeing the film I cannot understand why he is not a household name,What an athlete and what a man,if we had more people with his determination we would have countless world champions. I realise that this sounds like a Graeme Obree fan letter but the film was brilliant too.
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- i love ryan johnson 4eva!!! said...
- Posted on Jun 30 2007 15:25 Ryan Johnson is so sexy!!! the film was great too!
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- bob said...
- Posted on Jun 30 2007 15:22 it is the best film ever made!
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Cast & crew
Director: Douglas Mackinnon
Cast: Jonny Lee Miller, Laura Fraser, Billy Boyd, Brian Cox, Morven Christie, Niall Fulton, Steven Berkoff full cast
Genre(s): Drama
Duration: 102 mins
UK Release: Jun 29 2007
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