I couldn't hate this movie even if I tried...and I tried

Rating: 8/10 (6 December 2008)

I'm a sucker for sports movies that pit an underdog against impossible circumstances. I cry like a little boy every time I watch Field of Dreams, I'm inspired every time Rocky beats Apollo Creed, and so on. The funny thing is, none of these movies are in my film library which boasts over 500 titles. This realization dawned on me after I finished watching 2005's The World's Fastest Indian, a flawed but inspiring telling of the incredible true story of Burt Munro (Anthony Hopkins).
Munro was a 68 year old New Zealander who ventured by sea to the USA with the goal of setting a land speed record on his antique Indian motorcycle. Many of the clichÃ©s characteristic of underdog stories are in place (too old, too poor, too many odds stacked against, etc.), yet despite the all-too-familiar aspects present in WFI, it works exceptionally well. While WFI might be open to criticism for not setting Munro up against more dire obstacles on his journey, the obstacles present take on a less conventional role of being used to not only show the resilience of the human spirit, but also how charitable our fellow men/women are towards people who dare to dream big. Munro was an inspiring man and what makes his story worth telling isn't just what he does to inspire, it's what others do for him as a result of being inspired by Munro.
Without being overly sentimental, WFI celebrates ingenuity, determination and most of all, human compassion towards one's neighbor. What exactly it was about WFI that hadn't inspired me to see it before remains a question as unanswerable as why I don't have any other inspiring underdog stories in my movie library. Perhaps I'm a little embarrassed to admit I'm a sucker for less than perfect films that make me cry like a little boy. Waaaaaaah!