Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Aaditya Swaroop What can a man do when he sets his eyes on something and backs it up with everything he has got? Its people like Graeme Obree who keep giving us answers to such questions. TFS is a tribute to Obree's superhuman determination and physical-limits-defying accomplishments. Its an inspiring work of cinema and did well in showing the viewers what Obree had to go through on his arduous journey.For me, this movie could have been so much more. There were some high points but some factors just pulled the movie down. The highlight of this movie were a few aspects of the direction by Douglas Mackinnon. The plot was honest & all about the protagonist, Graeme Obree. Obree's personal characteristics & his ingredients for success were aptly on display - raw grit, determination, stubborn, hard-headed, persevering, the hours & hours of practice, the unending sweat. The small things were nicely shown - race to earn that extra 100 bucks, orange & sugar sandwich to provide his body more sugar, "banana" principle for measuring the distance between legs, his exercise routine. Douglas Mackinnon was successful in showing these various aspects of Obree's life and bringing it all together for the viewer. A small mention here to the background music, especially in the first half. Whenever that specific instrumental music was played, it brought about a sense of hope and the thought that either Obree will come up with a new idea or something magical from Obree would follow. Pumped up the tempo !But the same direction & maybe sheer laziness at it, left me asking for more. I would have liked it better if more time was spent on the primary two things which were different about Obree - cycle and his position. After all, these two things were instrumental for Obree's success. I needed to understand that how can a bicycle made from washing machine parts compete with a bike made by a computer and costed half a million? Though I would not have understood the technicalities, but if the laws of physics (as applied on Obree's bike) were explained in the movie in layman's language, it would have added to the AWE factor. I still don't know why & how Obree arrived at his first cycling position and then to the superman position (was it just the box in the fridge?)Another low point in the movie and direction/screenplay was the lack of time spent on building up Obree's character. Obree's mental health status could have been delved into in a better & detailed manner. Would have given the viewer a better perspective as to why he tried to commit suicide. I could just guess that his championship loss coupled with his disturbed frame of mind (owing to his childhood bully-memories) led him to end his life. The contrast of the character puzzled me - on one hand, this guy had superhuman grit and perseverance, and on the other hand he was easily disturbed when his childhood bully (now an adult) insults him on the loss of championship.Jonny Lee Miller was a revelation in the movie. He aptly portrayed what Obree had to go through to achieve what he did. I am sure he could have handled a much more complex Obree's character. Summary - TFS was a good watch. It wasn't exactly an underdog story but Obree had to fight for all his achievements. All such stories have a feel-good factor attached to them and when all the cinematic aspects come together to create a good piece of cinema, it leaves the viewer with a nice sense of the protagonist's achievement. TFS had some good parts but sadly, it wasn't inspirational. I think the confusion was whether the team wanted to make a sports movie or good dramatic cinema. It came close to both. 7 out of 10 for me.

John Sim Myth and Legend is all we have of Graeme Obree with all the local cyclists around Ayrshire (Scotland). So many stories of Obree in his youth! Was it him who the cycling club asked to take the shopping basket off his bike before running it a race? A race he won? I had to read the book to find out more. Then the film was made and through a long process finally released and DVD'd. It's an amazing story, and you'd think it was a Hollywood work of fiction.Graeme tried to beat the one-hour record and failed. Yet, his determination was to try again less than 24 hours later. Driven by his depression, he fought to beat himself to that record.Let down by UK cycling where he received none of the funding of other high-profile cyclists, he innovated new riding styles and pushed himself further. Only to find the governing body of cycling to ban his innovations.Even when Graeme was accepted in to the professional cycling world it was on a condition that he couldn't accept - to cheat. Graeme refused to take performance enhancing drugs.Throughout all this his darkest enemy of depression haunts him. But one person stands by him: His wife, Anne.This film only gives a glimpse of Obree's struggles, yet, it's funny and uplifting. Sure, it's low budget, but when you have actors such as Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Boyd working with a terrific script you need little else.Graeme Obree. Legend.

laureldf-1 Genuinely loved the movie, and I'll let those who know more about Graeme and cycling comment on those aspects.Understand that Jonny Lee Miller is well regarded in Scotland for a really good Scots accent. But on the other side of the pond, us 'muricans catch only every third or fourth word. Strongly suggest you turn on the closed captioning right from the beginning and save yourself a lot of frustration and wear on your DVD player. Otherwise you'll be backing up a lot for "what'd he say?" You can always turn captioning off when you watch the second time. And you will want to see it again. It's that good.

markhbahr A great movie about the live of Graeme Obree. The movie does a good job of showing the historical context of Mr. Obree's attempt at the one hour record. The intensity of the sport as well as the "inbredness" of cycling at the "hors" professional level (only insiders who are connected with major component manufacturers--and use their equipment--will ultimately be allowed to win). Some of the the timing tends to be off and is not necessarily true to the order of events. I really appreciated the caricature of the WCF officials who stood in the way of his rise to fame. They remind of of the UCI officials that they represent!Where the movie lacks is on the telling of the story of Graeme's emotional foibles. That element of the story seems disconnected--both within the subplot and with the rest of the movie--and hard to follow. A little bit more closure and development would have been good.