Movie Review: Phil Keoghan’s “The Ride” (I’m In It!)

Phil and I Two Years Ago East of Columbus, OH

I’m still not sure how many degrees from Kevin Bacon I am, but I scratched “Appear in Real Movie” off my bucket list Monday night at the Cincinnati Premiere of Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan’s documentary “The Ride.”  I appear for exactly 3.4 seconds about an hour and 10 minutes into the film.  I know this because I shouted “Heeeyyyy” and pointed at the screen in a sold out theater, then looked at my watch.  Dorksaywhat?  “What?”  Exactly.  At that moment in the film east of Columbus Ohio, drafting a BMW motorcycle, Phil had been tearing my legs off for the last 40 miles.  I had a half inch of Gatorade left and the grey sky threatened.  5 miles later I would pull even, shake his hand and have an incredible memory tucked in my jersey pocket forever.  No opportunity wasted.  Although I’m not officially listed in the credits, I’m certain I’ll be forever known as “Guy in green jacket riding with Phil in Ohio.”  Sooner or later I’ll get a screen capture of my moment of stardom to autograph for my groupies.  I may even hire a personal assistant and a posse.  Even then, I still wont make the cut into posh LA restaurants or be followed by TMZ.

When asked about the movie itself, I texted a co-worker, “Yea, it was good.  Very light fare.  A tish long, but overall, entertaining for all.”  I stand by that today.  By Michael Moore documentary standards, nothing horrific about cycling long distances was revealed in shocking detail, aside from the shot of Phil’s road-rashed hip.  It was light, but good.  It did a great job of wrapping up hundreds of hours and moments into a neat and entertaining package with both heart tugging and laugh-out-loud moments.  My biggest criticism is that I think it suffered a bit from the same problem as the Leadville 100 movie with Lance Armstrong.  I wanted more of an inside story.  I always thought the Leadville film would've been better told through the eyes of and focused on four nobodies traveling to Leadville from say Omaha.  I wanted the small picture, to know more about the characters and have less of them.  Rather than a Thanksgiving feast of a film about an incredible ride across America, an MS fundraiser, and snipits of drama between the characters, I think it would’ve been a better film focusing on one thing in depth.  I would’ve preffered a film told through the eyes of someone along the route with MS or if it was soley about the struggle of the tight knit crew, or Phil's family.

Phil and I the day of the Cincinnati Premiere

Regardless, I felt good leaving the theater with a smile on my face.  Plus, I was in it, got to meet Phil again and am forever grateful for the experience.

You can view the trailer, purchase/rent on I-Tunes and read more about Phil’s “No Opportunity Wasted” campaign here.

A previous article about my experience is here.