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Plot Summary
Two worlds collide when cycling legend Jock Boyer moves to Rwanda to help the first Rwandan National Cycling Team in their six-year journey to compete in the Olympic Games in London. Setting out against impossible odds, both Jock and the team find new purpose as they rise from the ashes of their past. Executive produced and narrated by Forest Whitaker, this stunningly shot film follows Jock (the first American to compete in the Tour de France) and his Rwandan riders as they slowly but steadily learn what it means to be a professional cyclist - how to train, how to compete, how to live the life of a top level athlete. As they get better and better, the riders of Team Rwanda give their countrymen a vision of something greater then themselves and their history: hope for a future.
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Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
78%- Reviews Counted: 23
- Fresh: 18
- Rotten: 5
- Average Rating: 6.0/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Rotten: A film that lacks complex human dimension to fill out this likable if promotional tale of good will and achievement.
Fresh: Engaging personalities and lively, good-looking assembly make T.C. Johnstone's inspirational sports docu a crowdpleaser.
Fresh: Its story line is as positive and affirmative as the title indicates, but it turns out there are dramas going on in this documentary that you wouldn't initially suspect.
Fresh: This feel-good sports doc brings a little-known story to compelling life.
Customer Reviews
Rising from ashes
A truly inspiring story. I recommend this movie to anyone with a heart. If you're human you will cry. Thank you Jock, Tom and especially Team Rwanda.
Wonderful movie
I’ve lived in Rwanda, so the subject matter is nothing new to me, and I enjoyed this movie thoroughly. I have found very few movies about post-gencocide Rwanda that are able to acknowledge the effect that the genocide has had on Rwanda, without overstating or understating the relationship of Rwandans to their history. But this movie has done this successfully. It has beautifully articulated the ways in which Rwanda has been shaped, but is not solely defined, by the genocide. It shows the resilience and humanity of the Rwanda people, while also telling a genuinely interesting and relatable story. Very well done, I would recommend it to anyone. If you are interested in learning more about Rwandan history and contemporary culture, this is a great starting point.
Wow! These Guys Earned A Million Strava Kudos!
If you like cycling or like watching people triumph over difficult histories this movie is great. Ignore the critics and the nay sayers. Here is their whining in summary, “This movie does not cover the genocide….” Well, that is because this movie is not about the genocide, but about the Rwandan cycling team. Maybe you want to watch a documentary on the Rwandan genocide. However, this movie does give a decent survey of the dark history leading up and through the genocide.
“Jock does not go into detail about his jail time.” Well, I’m sure if you cruise the TMZ site or cycling forums (archives, yes, you might have to research) you can find the juicy gossip you are dying to discover. His indictments hit the cycling community pretty hard, and no I, personally, did not need to hear much more about it. I think Jock tells enough of his history and summarizes it clearly by confessing it was a dark time and he was struggling. He confesses to an inappropriate relationship with an 11 year old girl and lists the charges. What more do you need to know? I think it was more than enough if you are familiar with Jock Boyer and the horrific news when it hit.
“This documentary only hints at the Tutsies and the Hutus riding together.” Yeah, that is probably done for a reason because Jock does not want the team to be defined by their genocide, but by their cycling accomplishments. Besides ingraining the genocide history into the minds of the riders is probably a bad coaching strategy because the last motivator in building team unity is saying, “Hey, this dude’s family killed your dad. Now help pull him up the next climb.” That is not really going to have a positive team-building effect.
This film is about the composition and building the Rwandan cycling team. No, Jock does not want to delve into the genocide. Why you ask? Well, the film does not tell you because it assumes you have an intelligence quotient greater than a newborn ostrich (Sorry, but the critics really got to me on this one). Why focus on what is going to divide the team? His goal was to give Rwanda something to define them instead of a horrific event. I think that was stated somewhere around 1 million times in the movie, but I might be exaggerating its obvious thesis. These riders have been through hell, and the goal of the team was singular: give Rwanda something to be proud of doing. (Ooops, did I just repeat the thesis of the movie again? Sorry, but I couldn’t resist.) This is a movie where a single man who has his baggage rises from the ashes and gives back to a country that needs to have something other than a horrific event define them. He takes his cycling experience and confers upon a group of men an ethic of teamwork that manifests itself in dedicated self-sacrificing-unity among a people who would have been at war just a generation ago.
Honestly, I don’t care if they are green martians in the story, the skin color does not matter, but the lessons learned in life from everyone in this story shows the worthwhile effort of a challenge. The Rwandan team is really impressive from where they started to where they ended. The dedicated teamwork at the end of the movie will make you shed a tear. What do I take from this movie as a motivator? I see it as a movie about how one overcomes horrific events despite a very morbid past. If that is a topic that interests you then you will certainly enjoy this movie.
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