Isn't this a little Big Fish-y?

I don't know, but I drew a lot of parallells between this film and that Big Fish film, only the setting and characters are different.

Not only because the plot is similar, with Munro being the "big fish in a small pond" wanting to see new things and do new wicked things with his bike.

But because everyone are so darn friendly. It annoys me, really.
Well sure, in New Zealand people are a little dull and don't give him much credit, and so on. But once he comes to America, everyone, except for the cab driver, are super friendly!

Like, Tina the tranny. He/she is a little too generous with Munro, don't you think? And he/she doesn't ask or even hint that he/she wants something in return!
Sure, maybe the fact that Munro treats him/her like a lady makes him/her happy, so it's worth all the trouble. But giving him discounts, buying him meals and driving him around seems a little too much.

But then we come to the car salesman. He doesn't look extremely honest, and like most salesmen he wants to get as much money out of every deal as possible.

"I want $400 for this car, but for $250 you get the car and you can use my garage all night aswell!" sounds a little silly to me.

I guess the Indian is helpful and all, simply because Indians are cool people.
And Ada gets laid, so of course she's helpful.

Then there's the whole
"No, he can't race!"
"C'mon, let the old man race."
"No, his bike is too crummy and he has no chute, brakes, tires or safety gear."
"C'mon, let him race anyway!"
"No, he's broken every rule in the book!"
"Let him race, dammit!"
"He's not even registered!!!"
"C'mooooon!"
"Fine, we'll let him race."

That ticks me off too. Everybody's so nice, and things are so easy for him.

As a movie, that doesn't bother me too much. But I doubt that's how it went down in reality. I think he had a lot more obstacles to get over before he could race. And I was kinda hoping for the real story when I heard about it.

Meh, anyway. Too much Big Fish for me. But it's a charming and interesting movie otherwise, and Sir Hopkins is as great as he always is. Seriously, the man can do anything! From psychotic cannibal, to funny and cheerful motorbike mechanic. A pretty long leap. I even had a hard time recognizing him the first few minutes. Didn't think he could pull such an "innocent" role off.