Tour de Force movie, on at the Rialto this week!


Feel like going to the movies this week? Check this out... 

 

This is on at the Rialto Cinema this week (3.45pm and 8pm) 

 

This review from NZ Bike magazine,

“Family man Francois is the number one fan of the Tour De France – an obsession that costs him his wife and his job. At a loose end, Francois decides to take the plunge and do the Tour himself. Director Laurent Tuel takes full advanteage of the spectacular scenery around the actual Tour, and the races feature realistic, heart-in-mouth action.

Tour de Force is a funny and thrilling tale of ordinary, everyday heroes and how life changes when spectators stop watching and start doing. A hilarious group of eccentric characters make up Francois’s ragtag entourage, and the generous humour and terrific perfomances make a for a winning combination.”

Here's the synopsis:
Like millions of others worldwide, 40-year-old Francois Nouel is a Tour de France fan. Unbeatable on anything to do with the race, he spends as much time as he can on his bike, to escape from a disappointing everyday existence. At work, he’s restricted to bicycle displays. And things at home are no better: his son thinks he’s a loser and his wife berates him for being a coward. So when his wife discovers on the eve of his holidays that he’s been volunteered to work on the Tour, it’s too much: she tells him she wants a divorce and leaves with his son.


Then he meets Remi Pletinckx, a depressive former sports manager who’s also at the end of his rope. Under Pletinckx’s influence, Francois makes up his mind to live his childhood dream: to do the Tour de France. The race begins tomorrow. If he leaves now, one day ahead of the pros, he could even get to Paris before them.

Francois takes off. Alone at first, others quickly join him, inspired by the challenge he has embraced. The obstacles are many, but as he overcomes them one by one, word of his exploits spreads. A real pack of amateurs grows around him. Each stage is passed, the media goes crazy, the crowds cheer, the Yellow Jersey is furious. Francois must be stopped.

But when all seems lost, when there’s nothing left to hope for, Francois resolves to go on to the bitter end... has his moment finally come?