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Film

Indie Flicks: 'Indian' speeds by too fast

By STEVE PERSALL
Published February 2, 2006

The World's Fastest Indian (PG-13) (127 min.) - The title is bad, the distribution strategy worse, and a terrific performance by Anthony Hopkins didn't get the Academy Award nomination it deserved. Roger Donaldson's fact-based film could have been the crowd-pleasing sleeper of 2005, but Magnolia Pictures blew it.

Hopkins plays New Zealander Burt Munro, whose obsession with rebuilding a 1920 Indian motorcycle took him halfway around the world in 1967 to the Bonneville Salt Flats. Munro stunned the speed world by setting a record, but that's just the finish line of a journey almost too astounding to be believed.

Donaldson had a long-running fascination with Munro after creating the biographical documentary, Offerings to the God of Speed, seven years before Munro died in 1978. His insight lends credibility to each frame of a movie that often feels made up on the fly. If all these things didn't happen to Munro on his quest, they should have.

The World's Fastest Indian is essentially four movie genres in one package. It's an offbeat buddy movie as Munro bonds with a young neighbor (Aaron Murphy) while he rebuilds the antique motorcycle. It becomes a fish-out-of-water tale when Munro hops a freighter to Los Angeles, where his courtly ways sharply contrast with seedy Sunset Strip surroundings. Munro's trip to Bonneville is a mini-road movie before the segue to foolproof sports underdog conventions.

Everything works better than usual because Hopkins has us fully invested in his character. People regularly recognize Munro's incredible focus and immediately respect him for it. We know how they feel because Hopkins makes us sense it, too. He constantly tempers Munro's eccentricities to a level that's completely believable, even in circumstances that might ordinarily be laughed off the screen. This is one of Hopkins' earthiest, most unforced performances ever, and one of his finest.

The supporting cast is fine, although nobody has much to do except marvel at or encourage Munro's persistence. Diane Ladd makes a warm appearance as one of the sexagenarian's occasional romantic interests, while Paul Rodriguez pushes too hard as an L.A. mechanic who lends his shop to Munro for emergency repairs. Those Sunset Strip segments, including a transvestite motel clerk (Chris Williams) attracted to Munro, cause momentum to sag: the only episodes that don't seem to end too soon.

How a rousing, funny and inspiring movie such as this didn't get wider release is a mystery and a mistake. The World's Fastest Indian is being unceremoniously dumped into theaters before a home video release that should make it a late-blooming success like Munro himself. B+

- STEVE PERSALL, Times film critic

Making the world seem a bit smaller is what movies can do but Hollywood seldom attempts. A pair of local film festivals beginning this week will bring us closer by showcasing filmmakers on the industry's fringe.

The fourth annual Tampa International Film Festival kicks off Friday with the first of four films in a retrospective of Indian director Buddhadeb Dasgupta. His Bengali drama Memories in the Mist will be shown at 7 p.m. Friday at Sunrise Cinemas in Tampa's Old Hyde Park shopping district. Dasgupta's attendance has been delayed until Feb. 11 when he'll conduct a forum on India's film industry.

Friday's schedule includes a 9:30 p.m. screening of Yang Ban Xi: The Eight Model Works, a documentary about Chinese students reviving the only operas permitted during Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution. A complete 10-day schedule is available on the festival Web site (www.tampafilmfest.com) Tickets are $8 per screening with discounts for students and seniors.

Sunrise Cinemas houses most of the festival, although Saturday's lineup includes a pair of free events at the Museum of Science and Industry. The French import The Ister (Part One) will be shown at 2 p.m., followed by a panel discussion of the film's ecological and philosophical themes.

Look for an interview with Tampa International Film Festival founder Rob Tregenza in Friday's Floridian section.

The 10th annual Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival, sponsored in part by the St. Petersburg Times, begins Wednesday with an 8 p.m. gala event at St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. Five short films will be shown, including Dan Katzir's Today You Are a Fountain Pen. Katzir will introduce his film and answer questions afterward. Tickets are $18, including free parking and all-you-can-eat movie munchies.

The festival continues through Feb. 20 with Fridays off for Sabbath. Ten films will be shown at St. Petersburg's Muvico BayWalk 20, Sunrise Cinemas and USF Health Services Center. Tickets are $5 a screening. Information is available at the Tampa Jewish Community Center Web site (www.jewishtampa.com) A more complete schedule will appear in next week's Weekend.

- S.P.

[Last modified February 1, 2006, 09:05:07]