For a little film, it's quite engaging

Rating: 8/10 (25 December 2007)

This is not the sort of film you'd expect from Anthony Hopkins. First, the aging British actors plays a New Zealander and second, he's a fearless speed demon with his heavily modified motorcycle! This is about as far from REMAINS OF THE DAY or SILENCE OF THE LAMBS as you can get and it was nice to see Hopkins (who was pushing 70) try such an unusual role in an independent picture.
Despite the title, the movie is not about people from India or American Indians--or even people from Indiana or Indianapolis! The "Indian" in the title is a reference to the defunct Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Plant and its cycles of the first half of the twentieth century.
The story is a basically true story (with a few changes and omissions) of how New Zealander Burt Munro was able to get his heavily modified motorcycle to the Bonneville Salt Flats and set land speed records for a 1000cc motorcycle--even though by this point he was in his 60s.
The story unfolds very slowly--something that might annoy younger and action-oriented audiences. Instead of focusing just on the record-breaking attempt, much of the movie is a "road film"--as Hopkins comes to America and slowly makes his way to Utah. Along the way, he meets a lot of odd characters, though the oddest one is probably Munro himself! In many ways, its reminiscent of THE STRAIGHT STORY and other slice of life films--one where characters and their quirks are more the story than their actual deeds. As a result of the style, it almost feels as if you are a passenger on Munro's journey as opposed to you seeing a movie.
By the way, like almost every bio-pic, this one twists the real story just a bit--consolidating some events, omitting many (Munro was a father and grandfather--while in the movie, he seems to be all alone) and intensifying the drama. For a brief recap of the real Munro story, try www.indianmotorbikes.com/features/munro/munro.htm .