![\"Anthony](\"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/FastestIndian.jpg\" "\\"FastestIndian\\"")
Anthony Hopkins as Burt Munro anticipates breaking the world land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats<\/p><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another Lion in Winter<\/span><\/em><\/h1>\n[xrr rating=4.5\/5]<\/span><\/p>\nThe World\u2019s Fastest Indian<\/strong><\/em>. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Diane Ladd, Paul Rodriguez, Aaron Murphy, Christopher Lawford, Annie Whittle, Chris Williams, Jessica Cauffiel, and Saginaw Grant. Written and\u00a0Directed by Roger Donaldson. (Magnolia Pictures, 2005, Color, 127 minutes. MPAA Rating: PG-13.)<\/strong><\/p>\nIn this independently released sleeper, consummate actor\u2019s actor Anthony Hopkins brings a deceptively diminutive, real-life hero\u2014legendary motorcyclist Burt Munro\u2014to the big screen in a larger-than-life biopic. Directed with heartfelt passion by Australian Roger Donaldson,\u00a0The World\u2019s Fastest Indian<\/em>\u00a0tells the improbable story of one man\u2019s all-consuming mission to become the fastest man on two wheels.<\/p>\nFor twenty-five years, New Zealander Burt Munro has dreamed of trekking far from the shores of his town of Invercargill to take a shot at breaking the motorcycle land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. But as the movie opens, we find not some youth with the latest tricked-out bike, but a pensioner pushing seventy and nursing hardened arteries, for which he must take nitroglycerin pills to prevent his heart from giving out. Pushing his dream even farther from the reaches of reality, he plans to ride to glory on a mechanical antique\u2014his beloved 1920 Indian Scout. The bike originally left the factory able to reach a top speed of fifty-four miles per hour; but Burt intends to reach\u00a0200.<\/em><\/p>\nHopkins is brilliant in capturing the unassuming outer persona of Munro. His portrayal gives us the sense not that we are in the presence of greatness so much as resolute persistence. Burt Munro is a self-effacing charmer and tinkerer whose eccentric personality is out of phase with his stolid, suburbanite neighbors. They, understandably, are more than mildly annoyed by his loudly revving bike engine before the break of dawn, and by his absent-mindedness about getting around to mowing his lawn.<\/p>\n
One neighbor, though, twelve-year-old Tom, sees in Burt not some tottering old crank, but a hero and mentor. The scenes in Burt\u2019s tool shed as Tom listens to the old man\u2019s reminisces and aspirations are among the movie\u2019s most sincere and enchanting. Even as we are subtly prodded not to take Burt completely seriously, Tom\u2019s uncorrupted awe and youthful idolization help stoke the man\u2019s quiet inner passion to see his plan to fruition.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t follow through on your dreams, you might as well be a vegetable,\u201d he counsels the boy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of vegetable?\u201d Tom inquires.<\/p>\n
With biting succinctness, Hopkins replies, \u201cA\u00a0cabbage.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\nOne thing that separates Burt from a legion of dreamers who abandon their ambitions is his resourcefulness. On a shoestring budget, he constantly employs his mechanical ingenuity to modify the Indian, with which he is more intimate than he is with any living person. Never taking a day off, not even for Christmas, he spends untold hours and days forging new pistons and souping up his \u201cmotorsicle,\u201d readying it for the big trip.<\/p>\n
Much of the movie concerns itself with Burt\u2019s personal odyssey to Bonneville for \u201cSpeed Week.\u201d He finances part of the journey by working as a cook and dishwasher on a freighter bound for America. Upon arrival, he works late into the night repairing a cheap old clunker to tow the Indian across the desert to Utah. Along the way we meet a benevolent, motley crew who happen into and out of Burt\u2019s life, including a fast-talking used car salesman (comedian Paul Rodriguez) whom Burt nearly kills while test driving on the left side of the road; a hotel desk clerk in drag (Chris Williams); an aging American Indian (Saginaw Grant) who helps Burt out of a tight spot; a widow, Ada (Diane Ladd), who takes a respite from loneliness during a brief encounter with Burt; and an Airman on furlough from Vietnam (Patrick Flueger).<\/p>\n
In a quietly reflective scene, Burt relates to Ada what motivates him to push himself further:<\/p>\n
A man is like a blade of grass. He grows up in the spring, strong and healthy and green. And, then he reaches middle age and he ripens, as it were. And, in the autumn, he finishes, he fades away and never comes back\u2026I think that when you\u2019re dead, you\u2019re dead.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In this soliloquy Hopkins summarizes the film\u2019s philosophy\u2014that there\u2019s no room for soothing stagnation on Earth by nurturing dreams to be fulfilled only in the hereafter. Life must be lived\u00a0now<\/em>, because tomorrow may never come.<\/p>\nArriving in Bonneville, Burt must overcome new challenges strewn in his path: Speed Week organizers inform him that he forgot to pre-register; his ancient motorcycle has no safety equipment; he\u2019s simply too old to be allowed to race in the time trials. But because of his dogged refusal to back down after traveling around the world, the race organizers humor Burt and allow him to enter the time trials.<\/p>\n
The World\u2019s Fastest Indian<\/em>\u00a0is superb in every respect. For director Donaldson, it represents the fulfillment of a double obsession: dramatizing Burt Munro\u2019s breathtaking pursuit of his lifelong goal, and realizing Donaldson\u2019s own quarter-century quest to bring his hero-friend\u2019s incredible story to the screen. David Gribble\u2019s lush cinematography is full of vibrant hues and astounding moving camerawork, expertly capturing racing vehicles traveling at speeds topping 200 miles per hour.<\/p>\nBut it\u2019s Hopkins who ultimately makes this picture work so well, in his most heroic role since playing efficacious industrialist Charles Morse in 1997\u2019s\u00a0The Edge.\u00a0<\/em>Though not given to hyperbole, Hopkins proclaimed\u00a0The World\u2019s Fastest Indian<\/em>\u00a0\u201cthe best film I\u2019ve been in.\u201d I agree, absolutely. His natural, evocative portrayal of a man who refuses to resign himself to the tedium expected of one in old age will inspire viewers of all ages. His Burt Munro is not content merely to dream, but is that rare individual who makes his dreams reality.<\/em>\u00a0\u201cFor me, it\u2019s a big change,\u201d Hopkins commented about Munro, \u201cbecause it\u2019s a real winner of a guy. I\u2019ve had a good career playing psychopaths or uptight people, and I\u2019m fed up with those.\u201d<\/p>\nIronically, his rousing performance of this aging hero is the best depiction of the spirit of youth I\u2019ve seen in a decade. Spend a couple hours with Burt Munro, and you\u2019ll find in his quiet resolve the idealism you may have mislaid somewhere along the way.<\/p>\n
Robert L. Jones is a photojournalist living and working in Minnesota. His work has appeared in\u00a0<\/span>Black & White Magazine<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Entrepreneur<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Hoy! New York<\/span><\/span>, the New York\u00a0<\/span>Post<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span><\/em>RCA Victor\u00a0<\/span>(Japan)<\/span><\/em>,\u00a0<\/span>Scene in San Antonio<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Spirit Magazine<\/span><\/span>\u00a0(Canada),\u00a0<\/span>Top Producer<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0 and the Trenton\u00a0<\/span>Times<\/span><\/span>. Mr. Jones is a past entertainment editor of\u00a0<\/span>The New Individualist<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 \u00a0 Another Lion in Winter [xrr rating=4.5\/5] The World\u2019s Fastest Indian. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Diane Ladd, Paul Rodriguez, Aaron Murphy, Christopher Lawford, Annie Whittle, Chris Williams, Jessica Cauffiel, and Saginaw Grant. Written and\u00a0Directed by Roger Donaldson. (Magnolia Pictures, 2005, Color, 127 minutes. MPAA Rating: PG-13.) In this independently released sleeper, consummate actor\u2019s actor Anthony […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,35,37,3,70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biopics","category-dramas","category-independent-films","category-mreview","category-sports-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=186"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":190,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186\/revisions\/190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The World\u2019s Fastest Indian<\/strong><\/em>. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Diane Ladd, Paul Rodriguez, Aaron Murphy, Christopher Lawford, Annie Whittle, Chris Williams, Jessica Cauffiel, and Saginaw Grant. Written and\u00a0Directed by Roger Donaldson. (Magnolia Pictures, 2005, Color, 127 minutes. MPAA Rating: PG-13.)<\/strong><\/p>\n In this independently released sleeper, consummate actor\u2019s actor Anthony Hopkins brings a deceptively diminutive, real-life hero\u2014legendary motorcyclist Burt Munro\u2014to the big screen in a larger-than-life biopic. Directed with heartfelt passion by Australian Roger Donaldson,\u00a0The World\u2019s Fastest Indian<\/em>\u00a0tells the improbable story of one man\u2019s all-consuming mission to become the fastest man on two wheels.<\/p>\n For twenty-five years, New Zealander Burt Munro has dreamed of trekking far from the shores of his town of Invercargill to take a shot at breaking the motorcycle land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. But as the movie opens, we find not some youth with the latest tricked-out bike, but a pensioner pushing seventy and nursing hardened arteries, for which he must take nitroglycerin pills to prevent his heart from giving out. Pushing his dream even farther from the reaches of reality, he plans to ride to glory on a mechanical antique\u2014his beloved 1920 Indian Scout. The bike originally left the factory able to reach a top speed of fifty-four miles per hour; but Burt intends to reach\u00a0200.<\/em><\/p>\n Hopkins is brilliant in capturing the unassuming outer persona of Munro. His portrayal gives us the sense not that we are in the presence of greatness so much as resolute persistence. Burt Munro is a self-effacing charmer and tinkerer whose eccentric personality is out of phase with his stolid, suburbanite neighbors. They, understandably, are more than mildly annoyed by his loudly revving bike engine before the break of dawn, and by his absent-mindedness about getting around to mowing his lawn.<\/p>\n One neighbor, though, twelve-year-old Tom, sees in Burt not some tottering old crank, but a hero and mentor. The scenes in Burt\u2019s tool shed as Tom listens to the old man\u2019s reminisces and aspirations are among the movie\u2019s most sincere and enchanting. Even as we are subtly prodded not to take Burt completely seriously, Tom\u2019s uncorrupted awe and youthful idolization help stoke the man\u2019s quiet inner passion to see his plan to fruition.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you don\u2019t follow through on your dreams, you might as well be a vegetable,\u201d he counsels the boy.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat kind of vegetable?\u201d Tom inquires.<\/p>\n With biting succinctness, Hopkins replies, \u201cA\u00a0cabbage.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n One thing that separates Burt from a legion of dreamers who abandon their ambitions is his resourcefulness. On a shoestring budget, he constantly employs his mechanical ingenuity to modify the Indian, with which he is more intimate than he is with any living person. Never taking a day off, not even for Christmas, he spends untold hours and days forging new pistons and souping up his \u201cmotorsicle,\u201d readying it for the big trip.<\/p>\n Much of the movie concerns itself with Burt\u2019s personal odyssey to Bonneville for \u201cSpeed Week.\u201d He finances part of the journey by working as a cook and dishwasher on a freighter bound for America. Upon arrival, he works late into the night repairing a cheap old clunker to tow the Indian across the desert to Utah. Along the way we meet a benevolent, motley crew who happen into and out of Burt\u2019s life, including a fast-talking used car salesman (comedian Paul Rodriguez) whom Burt nearly kills while test driving on the left side of the road; a hotel desk clerk in drag (Chris Williams); an aging American Indian (Saginaw Grant) who helps Burt out of a tight spot; a widow, Ada (Diane Ladd), who takes a respite from loneliness during a brief encounter with Burt; and an Airman on furlough from Vietnam (Patrick Flueger).<\/p>\n In a quietly reflective scene, Burt relates to Ada what motivates him to push himself further:<\/p>\n A man is like a blade of grass. He grows up in the spring, strong and healthy and green. And, then he reaches middle age and he ripens, as it were. And, in the autumn, he finishes, he fades away and never comes back\u2026I think that when you\u2019re dead, you\u2019re dead.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In this soliloquy Hopkins summarizes the film\u2019s philosophy\u2014that there\u2019s no room for soothing stagnation on Earth by nurturing dreams to be fulfilled only in the hereafter. Life must be lived\u00a0now<\/em>, because tomorrow may never come.<\/p>\n Arriving in Bonneville, Burt must overcome new challenges strewn in his path: Speed Week organizers inform him that he forgot to pre-register; his ancient motorcycle has no safety equipment; he\u2019s simply too old to be allowed to race in the time trials. But because of his dogged refusal to back down after traveling around the world, the race organizers humor Burt and allow him to enter the time trials.<\/p>\n The World\u2019s Fastest Indian<\/em>\u00a0is superb in every respect. For director Donaldson, it represents the fulfillment of a double obsession: dramatizing Burt Munro\u2019s breathtaking pursuit of his lifelong goal, and realizing Donaldson\u2019s own quarter-century quest to bring his hero-friend\u2019s incredible story to the screen. David Gribble\u2019s lush cinematography is full of vibrant hues and astounding moving camerawork, expertly capturing racing vehicles traveling at speeds topping 200 miles per hour.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s Hopkins who ultimately makes this picture work so well, in his most heroic role since playing efficacious industrialist Charles Morse in 1997\u2019s\u00a0The Edge.\u00a0<\/em>Though not given to hyperbole, Hopkins proclaimed\u00a0The World\u2019s Fastest Indian<\/em>\u00a0\u201cthe best film I\u2019ve been in.\u201d I agree, absolutely. His natural, evocative portrayal of a man who refuses to resign himself to the tedium expected of one in old age will inspire viewers of all ages. His Burt Munro is not content merely to dream, but is that rare individual who makes his dreams reality.<\/em>\u00a0\u201cFor me, it\u2019s a big change,\u201d Hopkins commented about Munro, \u201cbecause it\u2019s a real winner of a guy. I\u2019ve had a good career playing psychopaths or uptight people, and I\u2019m fed up with those.\u201d<\/p>\n Ironically, his rousing performance of this aging hero is the best depiction of the spirit of youth I\u2019ve seen in a decade. Spend a couple hours with Burt Munro, and you\u2019ll find in his quiet resolve the idealism you may have mislaid somewhere along the way.<\/p>\n Robert L. Jones is a photojournalist living and working in Minnesota. His work has appeared in\u00a0<\/span>Black & White Magazine<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Entrepreneur<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Hoy! New York<\/span><\/span>, the New York\u00a0<\/span>Post<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span><\/em>RCA Victor\u00a0<\/span>(Japan)<\/span><\/em>,\u00a0<\/span>Scene in San Antonio<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Spirit Magazine<\/span><\/span>\u00a0(Canada),\u00a0<\/span>Top Producer<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0 and the Trenton\u00a0<\/span>Times<\/span><\/span>. Mr. Jones is a past entertainment editor of\u00a0<\/span>The New Individualist<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 \u00a0 Another Lion in Winter [xrr rating=4.5\/5] The World\u2019s Fastest Indian. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Diane Ladd, Paul Rodriguez, Aaron Murphy, Christopher Lawford, Annie Whittle, Chris Williams, Jessica Cauffiel, and Saginaw Grant. Written and\u00a0Directed by Roger Donaldson. (Magnolia Pictures, 2005, Color, 127 minutes. MPAA Rating: PG-13.) In this independently released sleeper, consummate actor\u2019s actor Anthony […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,35,37,3,70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biopics","category-dramas","category-independent-films","category-mreview","category-sports-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=186"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":190,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186\/revisions\/190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}