The Flying Scotsman

U.K. television director Douglas Mackinnon's feature debut turns the story of real-life Scottish cycling phenomenon Graeme Obree, who emerged from amateur obscurity in the early 1990s to break world speed records on a homemade bike, into a series of sports-movie cliches. It's a shame it's not a better movie, but its small virtues include an uncompromising performance by English actor Jonny Lee Miller, who fares better with a Scottish accent than when he plays American.

Mercilessly tormented as a child by the bullies who roamed his hardscrabble housing estate, Graeme Obree submerged his sorrows in the challenge and exhilarating speed of bike riding. As an adu...