The world's most banal and clichéd "inspirational" film

Rating: 4/10 (16 February 2007)

Every once in a while, a movie comes along which the general public seems to just adore, lapping up every second of it, which, when I see it... I simply cannot understand the draw, nor how the average viewer could find anything to appreciate in such a mess of a movie. The World's Fastest Indian seems to be one of the above, and it seems undeniable that I am in the strong minority here, but it is beyond me how so many viewers could take so strongly to such a trite, clichéd, rambling mess of a film.
While it's true that the story of New Zealander Burt Monroe is without a doubt an incredibly impressive tale of inspiration and hope, his movie incarnation does him no justice whatsoever, as it seems nothing more than a great story hiding within a terrible movie. Director Roger Donaldson has tied together a remarkably disjointed film, stretching out barely and hour and a half worth of plot material over two hours in length, sloshing on every possible cliché all the while. There are so many scenes which seem thrown in simply for the purpose of adding more running time to the movie, (is a scene with Munroe taking a transvestite out to lunch really necessary in furthering the storyline?) or giving Anthony Hopkins yet another chance to show how charming and affable Monroe really was. At first this is tolerable, but after about 20 minutes of thrown in pointless scenes, this plot padding really starts to grate on the viewer's nerves. And it is irresistible to point out the irony of a movie based around speed being so slow moving and anti-climatic.
Such irritation is strongly contributed to by the simply banal musical score, which plays upon literally almost every single movie music cliché in a particularly tasteless fashion, sounding almost like a bad Disney animated movie score. Why on earth Donaldson would choose such a turgid composer for his film is beyond conventions of logic, but it seems simply yet another terrible lapse in judgement. It goes without saying that Donaldson's screenplay is also a trite, painfully conventional piece of work, so straightforward and formulaic it could be churned up by most screenwriters in their sleep. It's also a shame that such beautiful scenery is wasted by the bland and uninspired cinematography, which seems determined to capture as little of the astonishing landscapes as possible, opting instead for more and more shots of Hopkins grimacing on his bike. For a director with such well known past credentials, it would seem Donaldson needs to take a trip back to film school to learn how to make an entertaining movie yet again.
While Hopkins is the film's indisputable highlight, even he fails to live up to the hype surrounding his performance, including his own overzealous declaration of his performance as Munroe being "the best piece of work I've ever done". While his Munroe is a charming and affable fellow, a welcome break in character for Hopkins, Donaldson's idea of building a compelling character seems to be relying on Hopkins making the same cutesy mannerisms over and over again. (yes it is funny and charming the first time he doesn't hear what somebody says, or does something oddball and likable, but after the 30th time this is less endearing) A strong performance, yes, but in terms of being enough to carry an otherwise very weak film... not in the least.
While The World's Fastest Indian was likely meant to be a heartwarming tale of hope and dedication, it's extremely difficult not to choke on the tirades of sap or stumble over every single Hollywood cliché which is revisited in the tale. While Hopkins gives an indisputably charming and likable performance, it is nowhere near enough to resurrect a film which has so little merit of any sort keeping it going. The irony of a movie dedicated to speed being so slow moving itself is one of the painfully few bits of merit to be found in this horrifyingly conventional interpretation of one of the true stories which should in all fairness have translated well into a film. The story deserved a far better telling than this.
-4/10