Phil, a fellow cyclist, dropped over last night for a coffee and we ended up watching a very old Kevin Costner movie.
Have you ever seen American Flyers? It was released back in 1985 and focuses on a disconnected family repairing the hurts of the past. The two brothers take part in a gruelling cycle race in the US called The Hell of the West.
A lot of the cycling related action is reasonably realistic so I’m sure that there were some hard core cyclists involved in the making of the movie. There are a few things that I don’t think could ever happen but over all the storyline is plausible and considering that movies are about escaping reality for 90 or so minutes it stacks up pretty well.
I don’t know how many times I’ve watched it over the years but it was the first time for Phil. Finding it on DVD a couple of years ago was a bonus. Now I can watch it whenever I want.
While it does have a reasonably triumphant ending it’s certainly not a happily ever after kind of finish. The film is made just a little more poignant by the fact that a lot of the family tensions were brought about by the father in the family dying from a brain aneurysm which is what claimed my mother’s life back in 1987.
The amazing thing is how young Kevin Costner looked back then compared to now. I’m sure I haven’t aged that much in the last 21 years. Surely I haven’t.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: American Flyers – Cycling – Kevin Costner
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Have you seen Breaking Away?
I haven’t seen Breaking Away. I’ve heard about it a fair bit over the years but have never seen it in a video store to hire it.
I guess I’ll have to make enquiries and get a copy.
There’s probably a torrent of it somewhere if that fails =).
I have seen American Flyers several times. I was just talking to someone the other day about sprinting with Rex, from that movie.
If you can get Breaking Away it is a good way to escape for an hour and a half. Last night I had to content myself with watching Air Bud with the kids. No cycling in the movie, but I set up my trainer so that I could ride while I watched with them.