The based-on-fact story of Scottish cyclist Graeme Obree, who designed and built his own bicycle, partly out of washing machine parts, and raced it to a world record and a world championship in the mid-1990s.  He also battled depression, fueled by racing officials who kept making up new rules in a series of attempts to disqualify his bicycle.

CRITIQUE

The Flying Scotsman is a somewhat-satisfying based-on-fact story, about Graeme Obree, who indeed built his own bicycle out of washing machine parts (though only a few of them), and became a national hero by winning several championship races in the mid-1990s.

The result is a mixed bag; though the overall story is rousing, and some of the cycling bits are interesting, the filmmakers haven’t quite figured out a consistent tone, veering wildly between serious drama, sports drama and comedy.  Ultimately, many sequences work better than others, and though there are things that work here, it never quite clicks on all levels.

Jonny Lee Miller (best known for playing Sick Boy in Trainspotting) does a generally good job as Graeme, though we don’t learn all that much about him early; the script is a bit sketchy on biographical details, other than the idea that he was picked on by bullies as a child, while it’s unclear why, even though he is a skilled rider, he is relegated toward doing messenger work.  Graeme comes up with the idea of designing his own bike, which has a higher seat that puts the rider in a different position, though it would have been nice to get a little more insight into why this seems to work so well.

Though the scenes of Graeme riding around ovals trying to break records or win championships are well-shot, at the same time it is also a bit unclear what is going on; when an early attempt to break a record fails, it is unclear how close he came, while (largely because of the manner of racing here, in which racers aren’t racing side-by-side) his championships lack a lot of real drama as well.

Many of the best sequences here deal with the officials’ attempts to disqualify Graeme’s bicycle, which (as presented here) just feel petty and wrong, and Graeme’s ability to largely work around these new rules makes for some nice bits.  Also interesting is the fact that Graeme was also dealing with mental health issues, though this is something that also could have used a lot more explanation and payoff than it ever gets here.

Still, much of this is solid despite the flaws, supporting performances (by former Hobbit Billy Boyd as his friend/manager, and by Laura Fraser as Graeme’s wife) are strong, and the result is ultimately good enough to make one wish that it worked better.

THE VIDEO

There was no technical info provided with the screener disc provided by the studio.  The picture looked okay, not great.

THE AUDIO

The Flying Scotsman is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Surround.  Dialogue, music and sound effects come through clear.  There are English, French and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

Just a handful of Trailers, including Once, The Namesake and Rescue Dawn.

FINAL THOUGHT

Uneven film does enough things right to merit a look, though it’s more of a rental than a must-own.