TRAINSPOTTERS are ripe comic material. They can also fall under a more heroic light in this technologically sophisticated age where arcane knowledge is highly valued. Just look at Bill Gates. Peter Lichtefield's debut feature, a railroad movie through Germany and Finland, tries to make capital of both these aspects, but doesn't wholly succeed in delivering the goods.

Hannes (Joachim Krol), is a genial, fortysomething truck driver and bachelor, whose expertise in train timetables provides him with an opportunity to make some big money at the first International Train Timetable Competition (don't worry - such a thing does not exist in the real world).

On the way to the mother of all anorak fests in a remote town in Iceland, Hannes befriends a Finish woman, Sirpa (Outi Maenpaa), and a romance develops. Unbeknown to Hannes he is also being tracked down by the police as a prime suspect in a murder investigation at his place of work.

At first, the film has a quiet charm about it with its unusual, low key subject matter and the attractive backdrop of Finnish scenery. Joachim Krol in the lead is a thoroughly sympathetic character. The tension between his idea of the best way to travel - "schnell" - and her's - stopping to smell the roses - adds a nice tension to their relationship.

However, this relationship, like the story, flags. The plot also seems poorly thought through. For example, our timetable supremo misses an important appointment because he forgets clocks go forward an hour when crossing the border. Not convincing. There is also a sense, brought home by the many Finn-knocking jokes, that to appreciate this in its fullness you have to be German.