| The Flying Scotsman | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster for the film |
|
| Directed by | Douglas Mackinnon |
| Written by | John Brown Declan Hughes Simon Rose |
| Starring | Jonny Lee Miller Laura Fraser Billy Boyd Brian Cox |
| Music by | Martin Phipps |
| Cinematography | Gavin Finney |
| Editing by | Colin Monie |
| Distributed by | Verve Pictures (United Kingdom) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (USA theatrical) |
| Release date(s) | August 16, 2006 (UK) December 29, 2006 (US) |
| Running time | 96 minutes[1][2] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $11 million[3] |
| Box office | $1,258,900[1] |
The Flying Scotsman is a 2006 British drama film, based on the life and career of Scottish amateur cyclist Graeme Obree. The film covers the period of Obree's life that saw him take, lose, and then retake the world one-hour distance record. The film stars Jonny Lee Miller as Obree, Laura Fraser, Billy Boyd and Brian Cox.
Contents |
The film starts with Graeme Obree (Miller) cycling into a wood preparing to hang himself. There is then a flashback to Obree's childhood, where he was routinely bullied, events which leave severe psychological scars. One day Obree is given a bicycle and we see Obree evading the bullies on his bike.
The adult Obree is married with a child and while competing in local races runs a failing cycle shop and having to supplement his income as a courier. An ex-minister turned boatyard owner Baxter (Cox) befriends Obree, which results in Obree coming up with a daring idea - he's going to try and beat the hour record.
This is unlikely as Obree has neither the funding nor the machine required to take on such a record. Obree is determined and constructs "Old Faithful", a revolutionary bicycle, designed by Obree for maximum efficiency, made up from scrap metal, and components from a washing machine. With help from his friend Malky McGovern (Boyd), who becomes his manager, and against all odds, Obree makes an attempt on the world record in Norway and though he fails initially, he tries again the following morning and actually succeeds in beating it. However, his initial victory is short-lived, when his record is broken by Chris Boardman a week later, and the cycling sports authorities then rewrite the rules to try and make it impossible for Obree to win using his more experimental methods.
It is shown the night Obree breaks the record he is prone to crippling bouts of depression, which is exacerbated when Boardman breaks the record and he meets up with one of his childhood bullies.
After winning the Individual Pursuit World Championship in 1993, the authorities change the rules just as Obree tries to defend his title and he crashes after being unable to adapt a new riding position. This leads his depression to spiral out of control to the point where he attempts suicide in the woods shown at the start of the film. However, the rope snaps and with the help of his wife Anne (Fraser) and Baxter, Obree starts to receive help for his condition.
It is then shown Obree comes back and regains his world title.
The Flying Scotsman first attracted screenwriter Simon Rose in 1994.[3] Along with Rob Roy producer, Peter Broughan, and Scottish director, Douglas Mackinnon, he based the film's script on Obree's autobiography, also entitled The Flying Scotsman. The film, however, seemed doomed to fail and was cancelled several times.
In 2002, the death of a key American investor caused The Flying Scotsman to collapse only days before shooting was planned to commence.[3] East Ayrshire Council, who originally gave £5000 to fund the project, refused to give further finance, stating that it didn't feel it would contribute to the community.[7] Producer, Broughan, called the decision "a disgrace".[7] It took three years for the project to get back on track. Broughan was joined by producer Damita Nikapota on the project who secured pre-production finance from Freewheel Productions.[3] Peter Broughan tried to sack the director Douglas Mackinnon but Damita Nikapota refused to let this happen.[8]
Shooting of the film began on July 7, 2006 and ended September 4, 2006.[3] The film was shot largely in the United Kingdom, with East Ayrshire, Glasgow and velodromes in Germany standing in for places in the story such as Colombia, France and Norway.[8]
The Flying Scotsman's first country-wide release was in New Zealand, where the film reached number 2 in the box office and stayed in the top 8 for the first seven weeks of its release. The film kicked off the 60th Edinburgh Film Festival,[9] and later was given a wide-release date of June 29, 2007. Metro-Goldwyn Mayer was the main distributor in the United States, and the film was released there firstly on December 29, 2006.[10] It also received a limited release on May 4, 2007.
MGM Studios made the film available on Hulu on August 30th, 2010.
Review aggregation web site Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 51% based on 51 reviews.[2] Selected top critics give the film a score of 67% based on 12 reviews.[11]
The film gained positive reviews worldwide following its release. Russell Baillie, reviewer at the New Zealand Herald, gave the film four stars, commenting that it is "gripping, affecting and inspiring".[12] John Daly-Peoples also praised the film, calling it "compelling & heart-warming".[13] Bill Zwecker, of the Chicago Sun-Times, said "[t]urmoil and victory meet in remarkable Scotsman".[14] Zwecker also called Miller's acting a "revelation".[14] Tom Keogh also praised Miller's acting, calling him "enormously sympathetic and appealing" as Obree.[15] He also gave acclaim to the "terrific supporting cast", commending Brian Cox.[15]
Total Film gave the film a fairly negative review. The film magazine said the mesh of Obree's depression and the "Brit-flick furniture (loyal wife, rural scenery, gawky comic relief)" came off flat, "diminish[ing] rather than elevat[ing] its hero’s achievements".[16] The Guardian also questioned the film's comedic aspect combined with the issue of Obree's condition. Obree is an "opaque and unsympathetic figure" in the film, said reviewer Peter Bradshaw, also calling the record-breaking attempts "weirdly anticlimactic and blank".[17]