Movie Update: Long Way Round

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Long Way Round

Synopsis:

This documentary series follows actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman on a motorcycle trip around the world. The two friends will travel through such places as Siberia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Alaska, before finally ending the journey in New York. The filming will be done by on board cameras and one ride along cameraman.

AMAZON Review:

Forget Breaking Bonaduce or The Surreal Life. Ewan McGregor has made a celebrity reality series that's entertaining without having to be called a guilty pleasure. Long Way Round is a documentary detailing the 20,000-mile motorcycle trip he took around the world with best friend Charley Boorman over 115 days. Their trip took them from London through locales such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, and Canada, to name a few, before ending in New York. Armed with a cameraman, McGregor and Boorman encounter separation anxiety from their families; a shifty stranger (later revealed to be Mafia) who leads them through winding dark corridors to a posh hotel room; delays at international borders; hosts who offer them Fear Factor-level animal parts for dinner; injuries, equipment breakdowns, and more. The pair also film their own video diaries, in which they voice concerns and frustrations. The result is an emotional, rich breadth of experiences, from the hardship of logistical setbacks paired with the joy of visiting the children of Chernobyl and encountering hospitable locals who insist on escorting them wherever they go. McGregor and Boorman also make witty emcees, cheerfully upbeat even when they wonder aloud if one of their gun-happy hosts is a psycho murderer. The seven-episode series, originally aired on Bravo, concludes with their emotional ride into the Big Apple and some surprises for the pair courtesy of the show's producers. The two-disc DVD includes some can't miss deleted scenes, including McGregor's story about being confused for Jude Law, and a clip of McGregor attempting Jedi mind tricks on commuters who keep stopping in the road to peer at his broken-down bike ("These aren't the bikes you're looking for."). Long Way Round may have been an arduous once-in-a-lifetime experience, but you can't help but hope McGregor and Boorman suit up for another road trip someday. -- Ellen A. Kim.

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