A straight up good time of a movie

Rating: 10/10 (30 June 2006)

After watching this movie, I'm not sure if Roger Donaldson was deliberately placing scenes in this movie to make me worried something was going to go totally wrong, or if I was just being overly paranoid due to Hollywood making drama wrenched movies.
Spoilers ahoy: When he's racing at the beginning I thought he was going to have a broken leg when he wrecked his bike.
When he set his brush in front of his shed on fire, I thought he was going to set his shed on fire.
When he arrives to the states, I thought the customs agents were going to deny him entry into the country.
When he went to the hotel and put his money belt under the mattress, I thought the maid was going to steal it.
When he went to get his bike, I thought it was going to be crushed. And I also thought the customs agents were going to be to blame.
I thought the transvestite at the hotel was going to be a jerk. I thought the cops that questioned him were going to be jerks. When he lost the wheel to his trailer I thought that was the end for him. When he made it to the salt flats I didn't think he was going to get to race.
I DIDN'T THINK HE WAS GONNA BREAK THE RECORD!!!!!!!!! This movie really restored a little chunk of humanity and goodness into my heart. Every time a nice exchange happened between two human beings (especially the police), I smiled. It was from cheek to cheek. It wasn't something that has happened, well, since I think 'Forest Gump' came out.
I'm of the belief that this was done deliberately by Roger Donaldson and I applaud him for that. He made a wonderful movie that can not only be admired by New Zealanders, but by everyone.