Movies

I was lucky enough to see this film on a Qantas flight from LA to Melbourne early in December. My expectation was a low budget, low brow, attempt at making a motorsport film. I was truly blown away by what I saw. Anthony Hopkins deserves an Academy Award for the understated performance of Bert Munro. Always polite, and always focused Bert's dream get embedded in your heart and becomes your dream as well. The journey becomes the story with the characters he meets along the way getting obsessed with his vision as well. The scenes at The Bonneville Salt Flats are stunning and picturesque. I was left with a smile I couldn't get off my face and a tear in my eye. A simple film with a simple premise becomes my "Best Of" pick for 2005.

It's a good thing I took my wife, because as all men know the only way not to cry is to look over at your wife/girlfriend and make fun of them for crying.Seriously, I am a motorcycle aficionado but I truly think this movie transcends that. It's not a "guy's film" at all but a serious look at the life of a man that was average by his own reckoning - by ours he's a hero. When you find yourself looking at that and saying "I would have quit" and it was only the beginning of the movie, well, that's some tough stock Burt Munro came from.And it's not tedious, not an uphill struggle all the way against insurmountable odds, none of those clichés. It's a great movie about a real guy and I can't imagine someone watching it and not being entertained, moved, and frankly, impressed.

Forget Hannibal Lector. Anthony Hopkins playing Burt Munro becomes the character. He is crusty but lovable. Hopkins and the rest of the cast take us on a road trip spanning New Zealand to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and the audience can experience the entire ride and the intriguing characters that we meet along the way.This is a movie of one man's passion and his quest for immortality. Think of Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea" but with lots of characters.The writing is so good that there is not a dull minute in the film. The cinematography and the music score add to the experience.Its too bad that the movie is scheduled for limited release. It will truly be an enormous crowd pleaser. Don't miss it!.