If you've learned anything about me over the years, there's no doubt you should have learned that I have a sense of adventure. So, a film like Best Day Ever feels tailor-made for my adventurous spirit. Supported by innovative seating solutions company extraordinaire Kalogon, Best Day Ever is having its world premiere at this week's Heartland International Film Festival in Indianapolis. 

Best Day Ever tells the stories of Greg Durso and Allie Bianchi, adaptive mountain bikers who seem to carry a glow as they navigate both the challenges of their disabilities and relentlessly challenging themselves to conquer new challenges, new trails, and old stereotypes. Durso and Bianchi are winningly charismatic with a marvelously spirited approach to adaptive mountain biking equal parts grit and abundant humor. While they face ableism for sure, they also find a tremendous amount of support and camaraderie in their rural Vermont riding community. 

Set for its world premiere on October 17th at 8:30pm at Alamo Drafthouse at the Square, Best Day Ever will then bounce almost right back with a screening on Saturday the 18th at 1pm at Indy Art Center Auditorium. In a coincidence of coolness, the film will play right before The Tenderness Tour, a documentary directed by Andie Redwine featuring yours truly and my own long distance exploits and adventures by wheelchair. 

I will confess that it would be hard for me to not love a film like Best Day Ever, a somewhat slight film at a mere 48-minute running time yet also a beautifully paced and emotionally resonant film that feels perfectly sublime just the way it is. Co-directed by Ben Knight and Berne Broudy, Best Day Ever wisely avoids inspiration porn in favor of a realistic portrayal of what it means to be a disabled athlete with an broad tapestry of remarkable strength, determination, vulnerability, and community. 

The imagery here is a blast to watch. For those with limited knowledge of the spectrum of athletics for athletes with disabilities, Best Day Ever is a joy-filled eye-opener and practically a challenge to everyone to get yourself out there and live your good life. 

I could have for sure lived with more of Best Day Ever and these engaging athletes and their village of adventurers. Will Best Day Ever make you want to tackle the trails for yourself? Maybe. Maybe not. I can say for me it sure helped me realize why I'm so passionately in love with a life of adventure and a village that believes in living the impossible over and over and over again. 

Just starting out on its fest journey, I'd sure watch for Best Day Ever at a fest near you.

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic