Comme un homme libre

I've never given a movie a ten out of ten before but this is the closest I have ever come (I gave it a 9). There are very few movies that I truly love, this however is one of them. With it's gritty realism, fantastic on-site locationing, and it's great soundtrack it literally blew my young mind when I first saw it in 1979. At that point I didn't know about prisons, violence, racial tensions, or the struggle to survive & live free. I doubt that anyone who is an adult, or for that matter anyone who is growing up in todays world could be impacted by this film in the same way I was all those years ago, but I will say this: "if you haven't seen this movie I envy you"; this is because you have the chance to see this great film for the frist time. For each of us they're different, but here's to the rarest movies of them all: the ones we actually love...

I watch a lot of movies - DVD, features, and classics, you name it. The night I watched JERICHO MILE, my wife (who had ordered it on the internet) said she remembered it from when she was in high school, that it had stayed with her all of these years. Somewhat reluctantly I sat down (with our daughter & son), and was riveted from the opening sequence to the end titles. We all were.

She, who remembered the original, and our kids (18 and 16) who had no idea what the movie was about couldn't believe it. Our favorite scene? Bar none, when peter Strauss so passionately bangs his fist down and says, "i'd do it AGAIN!". It didn't advocate violence because it was a defense crime, but evoked such intensity we couldn't believe it...when his fellow cell mates gave him their food in support of his efforts, there wasn't a dry eye in our house.

Someone please make more movies like this one. UNBELIEVABLE!!

This movie was exceptional. It tells the story of a man who, after he was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his father-in-law when he found him raping his sister, sets out to become a world-class runner. It not only gave a realistic portrayal of prison life, but also deftly portrays the mentality of someone who is serving such a sentence. Peter Strauss played the role perfectly. Along with "Rich Man, Poor Man", this movie was probably the best performance of his career.

Probably the best scene in this movie was when Murphy was before the civilian board trying to get permission to run in the race and he sees right through the man's preconceptions and bigotry concerning convicts. This man did not see Murphy as a person but rather as something other than what he was. Very rarely has such passion and intelligence come from a made-for-TV movie.

A loner at Folsom State Penitentiary (Peter Strauss) gains attention when it's discovered that he can run a mile in less than four minutes. Officials naturally try to see if they can enter him in the Olympics. The cast includes Brian Dennehy, Geoffrey Lewis, Richard Lawson, Roger E. Mosley and Ed Lauter.

"The Jericho Mile" (1979) is a prison movie meshed with sports flick. It's notable as Michael Mann's first movie wherein he was limited by TV constraints, yet it shows his potential and explains why he moved on to greatness, e.g. "The Last of the Mohicans" (1992).

Being made-for-TV, profanity is replaced by wannabe edgy jive talk, which can be unintentionally amusing. If you can roll with that, this is a worthwhile serious story about great talent being trapped in a cage, not to mention the brotherhood of humanity regardless of skin color. I could relate to Strauss' character and I imagine a lot of other viewers can too.

The movie runs 1 hour, 37 minutes, and was shot at Folsom State Penitentiary, Represa, California, about an hour northeast of Sacramento. Several of the peripheral cast members were prisoners at Folsom and do a commendable job.

GRADE: B-

I've seen The Jericho Mile several times. In fact it's on my TV right now as I type this. I've always thought it was one of the best TV movies ever. Peter Strauss is outstanding in this role.

To sum things up...if you haven't seen The Jericho Mile, it's definitely worth a watch.