Race Across America is a documentary about a British team of amateur cyclists who want to win the Race Across America, better known as RAAM. Director Leo De Hann's film is beautifully shot and it nicely captures the harshness of this race.
The film is good, even if it's not perfect. Viewers get a snippet of the RAAM Roses -- the cycling team -- before the race, but most of the documentary follows the Roses as they bike. The team consists of leader Ollie (the experienced one), Woodsy (the muscular one), Tim (the guy with the earring), and Anna (the rookie woman). The film offers magnificent scenery, first of all. The film also does a nice job of revealing the cyclists' hardships, both physical and mental. Saddle sores are a problem. Because of Woodsy's size, his seat shifts, which causes him to cramp up significantly. Sleep deprivation is grueling, making night-riding quite unpleasant.
All of these hardships are shown in the film; there's no doubt that the race is hard. This leads to a satisfying ending.
My main criticism of the film is that it seems to be missing a more personal connection to the RAAM Roses. They are a team of amateur cyclists, as the film tells the viewers, but when it's all over, viewers still don't know that much about the cyclists. At a brisk 40-minute running time, there was obviously room to reveal more about the riders' lives, why they decided to race, and maybe how the race affected their regular lives afterwords. Getting to know the cyclists better would have made their hardships and triumphs even more impactful. On a similar note, the documentary could've spent more time on those hardships. One particular piece of drama in the movie had Ollie racing an extra 13 miles. He was obviously angry, and it would've been nice to see a little follow-through on how he addressed the miscommunication with his teammates and crew. But, he just said he was angry and the film moved on.
All-in-all, though, the documentary gives an interesting and entertaining perspective on an interesting and entertaining event. It takes less than an hour to watch and viewers will learn something. There's really not much more you can ask from a documentary.
The film is good, even if it's not perfect. Viewers get a snippet of the RAAM Roses -- the cycling team -- before the race, but most of the documentary follows the Roses as they bike. The team consists of leader Ollie (the experienced one), Woodsy (the muscular one), Tim (the guy with the earring), and Anna (the rookie woman). The film offers magnificent scenery, first of all. The film also does a nice job of revealing the cyclists' hardships, both physical and mental. Saddle sores are a problem. Because of Woodsy's size, his seat shifts, which causes him to cramp up significantly. Sleep deprivation is grueling, making night-riding quite unpleasant.
All of these hardships are shown in the film; there's no doubt that the race is hard. This leads to a satisfying ending.
My main criticism of the film is that it seems to be missing a more personal connection to the RAAM Roses. They are a team of amateur cyclists, as the film tells the viewers, but when it's all over, viewers still don't know that much about the cyclists. At a brisk 40-minute running time, there was obviously room to reveal more about the riders' lives, why they decided to race, and maybe how the race affected their regular lives afterwords. Getting to know the cyclists better would have made their hardships and triumphs even more impactful. On a similar note, the documentary could've spent more time on those hardships. One particular piece of drama in the movie had Ollie racing an extra 13 miles. He was obviously angry, and it would've been nice to see a little follow-through on how he addressed the miscommunication with his teammates and crew. But, he just said he was angry and the film moved on.
All-in-all, though, the documentary gives an interesting and entertaining perspective on an interesting and entertaining event. It takes less than an hour to watch and viewers will learn something. There's really not much more you can ask from a documentary.
