The Flying Scotsman

Director Douglas Mackinnon's The Flying Scotsman tells the true story of Graeme Obree (Jonny Lee Miller, Trainspotting), a Scottish amateur cyclist who broke the one-hour world record (for distance covered) in 1994. An underdog suffering bouts of clinical depression, Obree won over cycling fans everywhere by peddling a bike he built himself (using, among other things, parts from a washing machine). Unfortunately, the World Cycling Federation—the official powers controlling the sport of competitive cycling—were less than enamored with Obree's accomplishment or his scrappy defense of the ingeniously-designed bike. Stripped of his title, Obree went on to persevere in his uphill battle to reclaim it, barely living through some particularly dark bipolar patches, and it's to the film's credit that the emphasis here lies more with endurance than triumph—we experience Obree's agonies, both on and off the bike, as one man's struggle for survival. Recommended. (T. Keogh)