Thursday, November 16, 2006

Neither dot nor feather: "The World's Fastest Indian"

I gotta tell you, this sounded like a sequel to that cheesy Jan-Michael Vincent movie from the '70s. You know, "The World's Greatest Athlete." That's OK, though, because that movie ruled!

Alas, what we have instead is the feel-good story about a kooky sixtysomething guy in New Zealand -- that makes him a Kiwi, you know -- who tinkers with his 1920 Indian motorcycle to the point that he thinks he can set a land speed record on the thing. The only problem is that he has to get to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah to do it. So begins the odyssey of Burt Munro, whose journey across the sea and from the West Coast to the salt flats is actually a true story.

Playing our hero is ... well, I was about to say "the venerable," but there was the matter of "Bad Company" and "Meet Joe Black" ... Anthony Hopkins, who worked really hard on that Kiwi accent, let me tell you. In the other land down under, he pals around with a precocious neighbor kid and gets amorous with a saucy old lady. He also gives us the movie's most entertaining scene: a race between the old fart on his old bike and a bunch of young punk bikers. I won't tell you who won, but it's pretty funny how the race plays out.

Eventually Burt gets to the U.S. and makes some new friends in L.A., en route to Utah and in the Beehive State itself. Even with some adversity along the way, it's all rather pleasant, although I kind of got tired of Hopkins' "Innocents Abroad" schtick now and then. Yes, you're a sweet man. Yes, we know you want to go fast. No, I don't need to hear about how you walked three miles to school in the snow, uphill. (Both ways!)

While a tad sappy here and there, "Indian" overall was nice enough and successful at making you care about Burt's quest. I might have wanted a little more real adversity, but this by and large is meant to be a safe, uplifting tale, I suppose. And bonus points for actually shooting the movie in New Zealand -- even the town where Munro fixed up his old bike. Still, I was a little surprised not to see any hobbits around.

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