Good values! Good mentor!

Rating: Null/10 (13 September 2007)

What a heart-warming, life-assuring and valuable film. It left me feeling utterly privileged to have met Burt Munro. The film leaves you a much wiser person. This is how films should be. It is about one man's determination, hand in hand with his Scout Indian motorcycle. An incredible portrayal of a single man, and in actual fact, equally as much a portrayal of a single motorcycle. To me the Scout Indian motorcycle is personified and is as much a personality as Burt Munro is. They feed each other with their strengths; they are each other's oxygen and are inseparable. I see these two as a parallel being dependent on each other, where they both take a similar course. I.e. by starting out younger then growing older with the necessary repairs that take place during the process of aging and pursuing a goal.
Unorthodoxy is a key word  Burt's personality is unorthodox, the bike is unorthodox and Burt's methods of repairing his cycle are unorthodox. The culture shock aspect of the film, namely the contrasts between New Zealand and USA are hilarious, and remind me of the culture shock aspect in the film Crocodile Dundee.
There is a long "string of pearls" to describe Burt. He is unpretentious, unprejudiced, moral, authentic, true to himself, a fatalist, an individual, a super enthusiast, charming, inquisitive, has a colourful personality, can laugh things off oozing wisdom as opposed to naivety, has an appreciative sense of humour, can at any time maintain his equilibrium, lives his passion but most of all I loved how he won everyone's heart. With his charm and nonchalance he got himself out of every, and I mean every, predicament, trial and tribulation he came across, and believe me there were many.
His life wisdom, philosophy and passion show us resources we can personally learn a lot from. For instance Burt's quote: "You live more in five minutes on this bike than others do in a lifetime". He teaches us how to make a dream come true without exploiting others in the process. He is such an excellent example of a person having faith in and respecting himself, as well as others and the World.
The neighbour's son Tom is a lucky boy to have had him as a mentor and model. I couldn't help wondering how the real Tom has benefited from having known the real Burt Munro. The real Tom as well as Aaron Murphy, who plays the role of Tom. What a privilege for the real Tom to have personally known this man, but also Aaron Murphy having gotten to know Burt Munro indirectly with Anthony Hopkins' vivid portrayal of this man. It must have almost felt like "the real thing".