Hard Miles

Greetings again from the darkness. When Greg Townsend states, 'hard work overcomes hard luck', it's as much a reminder to himself as it is a motivation for the boys he's dealing with. The film from writer-director RJ Daniel Hanna (MISS VIRGINIA, 2019) and co-writer Christian Sander is inspired by a true story, and comfortably fits into the 'inspirational sports story' category, perhaps most similar to MCFARLAND USA (2015) starring Kevin Costner.

Matthew Modine plays Greg Townsend, a social worker at Ridge View Academy. It's a correctional facility for troubled youths, and Greg is a teacher and mentor. When the state threatens to revoke Ridge View's charter, Greg decides to take the four boys from his welding class on a 762-mile bike ride to the Grand Canyon. Previously termed Tour de Greg by his co-workers (or Tour de Canyon by Greg), his belief is that the trip will teach life lessons and cooperation to the boys. Without his realizing, it's also a trip to help Greg himself deal with an ailing (and estranged) father in hospice, an imprisoned brother, and some health issues of his own. Just like in real life, everyone has stuff going on.

Greg encourages (begs) the local bike shop owner, Speedy (Sean Astin), to sponsor his rag-tag team of misfits. Child psychologist and Ridge View co-worker Haddie (Cynthia McWilliams) agrees to drive the SAG wagon (supplies and gear). And after welding the frames of their own bikes ... and fighting with each other ... the boys reluctantly agree to go on the trip. The boys are Smink (Jackson Kelly), Rice (Zack T Robbins), Atencia (Damien Diaz), and Woolbright (Jahking Guillory), the latter being the most troubled of the group.

The trip goes about as you'd expect - with literal and emotional ups and downs. In fact, the movie itself is easily predictable and formulaic for the genre. However, it's an inspirational and uplifting story and we find ourselves rooting for the boys to pull together as a team, and for Greg to deal with his own demons while teaching the boys the ultimate life lesson: keep going. The best movie focused on bike riding is probably the classic BREAKING AWAY (1979), and this one from filmmaker Hanna could be called, coming of age on wheels.

Opens in theaters on April 19, 2024.

Hard Miles is an uplifting movie about real experiences . The scenes give you a clear picture of the triumphs and tribulations these students experience. By the end of the movie, you are cheering them on to see if they can experience positive results. I would recommend Hard Miles especially for someone who might be considering a ride. The scenery is breathtaking and makes me want to dust off my own bicycle to join in a challenge. Cycling doesn't get enough credit for how you need to focus your energy and use your mind AND your body to have success. If you have any doubts in your ability to ride, see Hard Miles.

All I have to say from a man who spent considerable amount of time incarcerated in juvenile facilities in the system that aged out of foster care that total lives and positive life and prides myself as a movie buff I found this film to be so extremely real and entertaining Everyone did great the story was awesome the entire thing just hit hard.... I'm so happy to have seen it at cinequest film festival and that I got to here it's start speak about his approach to art. I really enjoyed this film. The cinematography was great the scenery was beautiful, the story was well written, and the young actors worked so well together... What a positive film.

Matthew Modine is quite effective here as the cycling-obsessed Doug Townsend. By day, he's a sort of hybrid between a prison officer and social worker for young men in various stages of the criminal justice system. He is about to go on two week trip cycling the 700-odd miles to the Grand Canyon but their facility is under constant funding threat and they need something that will make a "splash". He leads a welding class of four disparate lads who each have their own problems and who could pick a fight with Mother Theresa! Then he hits on an idea to get them to make their own bikes. His boss and his colleague "Haddie" (Cynthia Kaye McWilliams) are somewhat sceptical of his next suggestion. He takes them all along on his trip. She had already been involved in a disabling altercation at work, so could drive the supply van whilst the rest cycle. It's risky. They aren't so fit, they might abscond and presently, would cheerily ride over each other before going anywhere! From here on, it's all rather predicable but the underlying messages of inter-reliance, team spirit and friendship evolve quite well with strong contributions from Jahking Guillory - the recalcitrant "Woolbright" and from Jackson Kelly as the weedy "Smink" who has significant dietary issue: he doesn't eat. The photography works well on two levels. The scenery as we travel towards the Canyon itself, and the intensive style of coverage of their journey involving us in the strenuousness of their struggle both physically and emotionally. It's essentially about having purpose, I think. Rudderless people who are abandoned to drift along aimlessly fall into bad habits. Townsend sees that and wants to head off their loneliness and sense of hopelessness at the pass by giving them something to be proud of. To achieve on their own terms. It's a bit long but has some comedy (frequently from or at the expense of McWilliams) and even if the conclusion is pretty obvious from the get-go, it's still a film that has some punch at the end.

It's low-budget, and it looked it from the trailer. Sometimes when you hit upon a movie like that, no matter how worthy the story, it gets delivered with such a sub-par script and acting that it's unpalatable. Not so with this one.

I was really impressed by the acting all around. Everyone seemed authentic, and the deeper chemistry that developed between the characters felt natural and not contrived.

It's a very decent script, too. There were no big dramatic moments that made it feel saccharine or overly done. Even a moment between Modine's character and his (abusive) father is done in such a realistic, simple way. No sappy, platitude-laden scripting to ruin the authenticity.

The whole film was inspiring enough to make me cry! Maybe it's because I'm a mom of a boy, but I sure felt protective of those young men and wanted to see them succeed (I raised my son in a safe, loving home -- and it breaks my heart to think of kids who don't have that). The fact that it's based on a true story added to the emotional factor for me.

Overall, this is a really touching (though understated) story that is well worth watching!