Since he was young, Steve Prefontaine was always too short, too skinny or too slow to be the first choice for any sports a thing that only made him work harder to become whatever he felt he needed to be and to make the most of any chance given to him. At age 16 he decides that he is not only to be a runner but that he will be representing his country in Munich at the 1972 Olympics. Training hard for the mile event, his coach at Oregon State, Bill Bowerman convinces him to focus on the three-mile and make the media interested in it. Keeping his goal of getting three seconds faster every year of university, Pre gets closer to his Munich date while his reputation as a cocky yet gutsy athlete grows.
First of all, I, unlike many other thoughtless reviewers have put a spoiler warning on this review because I, like countless others, had never heard of Steve Prefontaine and therefore didn't know how the film would end; didn't know, that is, until the very plot outline on this site proclaimed it. Anyway, despite this I decided to watch it because it didn't strike me as the sort of film that knowing the end mattered (of course I would rather have been allowed to decide that for myself). From the start of the film a picture is painted of Preforntaine as a cocky but driven individual who worked to overcome anything that life threw in his way but was ultimately (and untimely) beaten by the obstacle that defeats us all. In telling this story the film tries to develop a character while also making sure it delivers the basic memorable moments in his career. As such it doesn't quite succeed but then I suppose it depends what the audience is; if you know all the milestones then it is likely that the film might bore as its focus is really on the "what happened" rather than the "who". However for a viewer like me who didn't know it then it does enough to be interesting. The docu-drama approach worked better than I expected it would and the film does have a good pace (sorry) to it and, because it made Prefontaine an interesting character it actually made for a quite emotional film.
The cast work pretty well; certainly Leto's presence had me worried but he not only had a good resemblance but did well with the material he was given. His character is not a complex person, but then with biographical films it is always difficult to write such a character and usually it is more effective to condense them down to the essence of who they were. Ermey is good value here in one of only three films where he doesn't play some sort of sergeant-major (I'm joking but it feels like it could be true) and is a nicely grizzled character. Support from O'Neill, Meyer and others is OK but really the film belongs to the lead two and, although Leto is hardly the life of the film, his character's story is worth the watch.
Overall this is a solid, if unspectacular film that may not win you over if you have a working knowledge of Prefontaine but, for me, it was interesting at the level that it was presented. An interesting story that told me what I needed to know could have been better but did enough to work for me.
First of all, I, unlike many other thoughtless reviewers have put a spoiler warning on this review because I, like countless others, had never heard of Steve Prefontaine and therefore didn't know how the film would end; didn't know, that is, until the very plot outline on this site proclaimed it. Anyway, despite this I decided to watch it because it didn't strike me as the sort of film that knowing the end mattered (of course I would rather have been allowed to decide that for myself). From the start of the film a picture is painted of Preforntaine as a cocky but driven individual who worked to overcome anything that life threw in his way but was ultimately (and untimely) beaten by the obstacle that defeats us all. In telling this story the film tries to develop a character while also making sure it delivers the basic memorable moments in his career. As such it doesn't quite succeed but then I suppose it depends what the audience is; if you know all the milestones then it is likely that the film might bore as its focus is really on the "what happened" rather than the "who". However for a viewer like me who didn't know it then it does enough to be interesting. The docu-drama approach worked better than I expected it would and the film does have a good pace (sorry) to it and, because it made Prefontaine an interesting character it actually made for a quite emotional film.
The cast work pretty well; certainly Leto's presence had me worried but he not only had a good resemblance but did well with the material he was given. His character is not a complex person, but then with biographical films it is always difficult to write such a character and usually it is more effective to condense them down to the essence of who they were. Ermey is good value here in one of only three films where he doesn't play some sort of sergeant-major (I'm joking but it feels like it could be true) and is a nicely grizzled character. Support from O'Neill, Meyer and others is OK but really the film belongs to the lead two and, although Leto is hardly the life of the film, his character's story is worth the watch.
Overall this is a solid, if unspectacular film that may not win you over if you have a working knowledge of Prefontaine but, for me, it was interesting at the level that it was presented. An interesting story that told me what I needed to know could have been better but did enough to work for me.