THE WORLD'S FASTEST INDIAN (2005)

After more than 100 movies, plus stage roles and TV appearances too numerous to count, Anthony Hopkins, like that energetic battery hare, just keeps goin’ and goin’. One of his most pleasant recent roles is Burt Munro (1899-1978), the legendary speed bike racer from New Zealand who also kept goin’ and goin'. THE WORLD’S FASTEST INDIAN tells how, in the early '50s, the likeable if eccentric 67-year old finally realized his lifelong goal of speed-testing his then-46 year old “Indian” motorcycle at the Bonneville Salt Flats – and wound up setting an under-1000 cc world motorcycle land speed record, unbeaten to this day. Sure, the film is syrupy enough for pancakes, the number of lucky breaks and coincidences an assault on credulity, but who cares? – it's inspirational as all get-out. Munro defies the sour sentiment of Bette Davis' quote, "Old age isn't for sissies;" likewise, Hopkins, now older than Munro was when he clocked 200-plus mph at the Salt Flats, is still blessing us with one lovely performance after another. In this, he's simply wonderful, as is the large supporting cast of colorful characters Munro meets and who befriend him in his quest to be the best, although the script makes it clear, for this speed demon, speed was less important than never stopping – a lesson for all of us.