Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

Here is John Nolte's latest column.

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Here is Kurt Schlichter's latest column.

Yesterday evening, Katherine and I watched American Flyers (1985), which I own on DVD. I watched this movie many years ago on cable television, but had forgotten how it ended. Katherine had never seen it.

The movie stars Kevin Costner, who went on to great fame in movies such as Dancing with Wolves (1990), and Rae Dawn Chong. It's not really a bicycling movie, despite the title; I would describe it as a coming-of-age film (or a brother film) that happens to involve bicycles.

That said, the racing scenes are pretty accurate as far as tactics are concerned. I was impressed. The movie was released in 1985, before an American (Greg LeMond) had won the Tour de France. The big American team was 7-Eleven (which features in the movie). I got a kick out of the demonization of Russian cyclists. They were made to appear as Neanderthals. This was during the Cold War, and only five years after the United States boycotted the Moscow Olympics.

Sad to say, but the acting was high-schoolish. The dialogue was stilted rather than natural-sounding, and the characters didn't seem real. I kept thinking, "Nobody would talk like that." I was especially dismayed by the meanness of the family members toward each other. Nobody in my family talked like that.

All in all, it wasn't a bad way to spend a couple of hours. Here is a trailer.

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