The Flying Scotsman (2006 film)

Plot

The film starts with Graeme Obree (Miller), who suffers from crippling bipolar disorder, cycling into a wood where he prepares to hang himself. A flashback to Obree's (Sean Brown) childhood depicts him being physically attacked at school by other pupils, leaving severe psychological scars. One day Obree is given a bicycle by his parents and we see Obree evading the bullies on his bike.

The adult Obree is married with a child. While competing in local races, he runs a failing cycle shop and has to supplement his income as a bicycle courier. Baxter (Cox), a boatyard owner who is (unbeknownst to Obree) a minister, befriends the atheist Obree.

Obree decides to try and beat the hour record. He has neither the funding nor the quality of bicycle required. Determined to succeed, he 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 and manager Malky McGovern (Boyd), Obree plans to break the world record in Norway. His first attempt is a failure, but he tries again the following morning and succeeds. His victory is short-lived, and his record is broken by Chris Boardman (Adrian Grove (credited as Adrian Smith)) a week later. The Union Cycliste Internationale changes the rules to discourage Obree from using his experimental bicycle.

Obree is severely depressed the night following his record-making ride. This is exacerbated when Boardman breaks the record. When Obree is confronted in a pub by the four bullies who had victimised him years earlier at school, he becomes completely withdrawn and rarely leaves his house. Baxter attempts to counsel him, but Obree feels betrayed when he discovers that Baxter is the pastor of a local church.

He recovers enough to compete in the Individual Pursuit World Championship in 1993, in which he uses his bicycle design again. The UCI officials begin rigorously enforcing the new ruling, penalizing him for riding in the stance that his bicycle design is intended to support. The physical and emotional exertion take their toll, and he crashes disastrously, breaking his arm.

The plot then returns to the opening of the film. The rope Obree uses to hang himself breaks, and he is found by another cyclist who summons the authorities. Obree initially resists treatment, until Baxter tells him about his wife, who also suffered from bipolar disorder and ultimately took her own life. At Obree's request, his wife, Anne, a hospital nurse, agrees to help him begin treatment.

Obree later makes a comeback and regains his world title. The new bicycle configuration that he uses, which supports the "Superman" stance, is later banned by the UCF after eight riders win gold medals with it.

Cast

Production

The Flying Scotsman first attracted screenwriter Simon Rose in 1994. 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. 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. Producer, Broughan, called the decision "a disgrace". 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. Peter Broughan tried to sack the director Douglas Mackinnon but Damita Nikapota refused to let this happen.

Shooting of the film began on 7 July 2006 and ended 4 September 2006. The film was shot largely in Galston, Scotland, with East Ayrshire, Glasgow and velodromes in Germany standing in for places in the story such as Colombia, France and Norway.

Release

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, and later was given a wide-release date of 29 June 2007. Metro-Goldwyn Mayer was the main distributor in the United States, and the film was released there firstly on 29 December 2006. It also received a limited release on 4 May 2007.

Reception

Review aggregation web site Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 49% based on 53 reviews. The sites consensus reads: "The Flying Scotsman's too-brisk pacing reduces the scale of cyclist Graham Obree's accomplishments while not uncovering what makes him tick."

The film gained mixed reviews worldwide following its release, with most of the praise being aimed at Jonny Lee Miller's performance in the title role. Russell Baillie, reviewer at the New Zealand Herald, gave the film four stars, commenting that it is "gripping, affecting and inspiring". John Daly-Peoples also praised the film, calling it "compelling & heart-warming". Bill Zwecker, of the Chicago Sun-Times, said "[t]urmoil and victory meet in remarkable Scotsman". Zwecker also called Miller's acting a "revelation". Tom Keogh also praised Miller's acting, calling him "enormously sympathetic and appealing" as Obree. He also gave acclaim to the "terrific supporting cast", commending Brian Cox.

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". 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".