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AT THE MOVIES
Hopkins takes gold in 'Fastest Indian'
By David Elliott
MOVIE CRITIC
February 2, 2006
The first film I reviewed for this paper was “The Bounty” in 1984, directed by Roger Donaldson, starring Anthony Hopkins. They had a falling out while filming “Bounty,” but later patched it up and now have a good comeback.
“The World's Fastest Indian” is a total charmer, not a hefty piece like “The Bounty,” but one of those salt-of-life stories drawn from fact, inflected by humor and given robust respect by all involved.
Hopkins (now Sir Anthony) plays Burt Munro, a stolid old bloke who loves motors and speed. He lives in a virtual garage, surrounded by parts that he has smelted and shaped himself, with a lawn he won't cut and neighbors who are irate about his noise.
It is 1963, and though Inver Cargill, New Zealand, is feeling the craze for the twist, it's a very provincial place. Burt is a provincial guy with a keen mind and simple dreams. “Danger is the spice of life” is his favorite cliché and, though pushing 70 and suffering angina, he goes for spice.
His beloved, modified, 1920s Indian Scout is the skinny object of Burt's bluff love. He has raced it at the beach and other Kiwi spots. But his hope is to get the machine to Bonneville Flats, Utah, to the fabled speed runs on the vast pan of salt, and he is willing to travel on an old freighter to Los Angeles, there to buy a car, build a trailer and get the Indian to Utah.
Using an accent that is Down Under but not yawping to the South Pole, Hopkins gives us Burt whole and full, a limited man but not a shallow one. He is dryly funny, shyly endearing. Hopkins has never used his gruff, boxy charm more enjoyably, and this is a great-old-dude performance near to Walter Huston in “Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” Art Carney in “The Late Show,” Richard Farnsworth in “The Straight Story.”
Donaldson made a documentary about the actual Burt Munro, yet has smoothed and tucked the story dramatically. We just know, from wired reflexes, that the kid next door will catch the spark of Burt's dream, that road mama Diane Ladd will want to get old Burt into the sack, that Burt will smartly wink around the fact that his first L.A. friend is a transvestite, and that Christopher Lawford (as the most celebrated speed devil at Bonneville) will pull strings for Burt.
But Donaldson has a good eye, not just for shots but life. He knows how to travel and makes sure that even the quaintest figures become real characters. Plus, the Indian is a fascinating machine and Burt's love for it is some sort of odd romance.
You don't have to be a motorhead to enjoy the humor, the little insights about aging, the smart words about smoking, the dear way that Burt reminds the Yanks that he is not British, the concentrated beauty of Hopkins' acting. Burt Munro and his streamlined Indian go the distance.
 A Magnolia Films release. Director, writer: Roger Donaldson. Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Diane Ladd, Paul Rodriguez, Christopher Lawford, Bruce Greenwood. Running time: 2 hr., 7 min.
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