The Loneliest Runner

TV Movie
1976
1h 14m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A young boy who still wets the bed finds escapism from his abusive mother and his own embarrassment by going running after school.A young boy who still wets the bed finds escapism from his abusive mother and his own embarrassment by going running after school.A young boy who still wets the bed finds escapism from his abusive mother and his own embarrassment by going running after school.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

509

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys
- 2 nominations total

Photos3

User reviews19

7.2509

Featured reviews

9bettydev

It sticks in my head.

This is one of those movies I've never forgotten. It's been stuck in my head since I saw it a long time ago. The agony of a child being embarrassed by his mother for wetting his bed, when he so desperately wanted to stop, is a heart-breaker.

How many times have we, as parents or just people, criticized another person without thinking of how our criticism can hurt? Maybe it's something the person can control and maybe it's not. But our criticism can last and hurt for years, as has my memory of this movie.

I don't remember if the mother in this film took her child to a doctor. Even if she had, she wouldn't have gotten much help. Fortunately now, medical science can relieve the problems of bed-wetting in adolescents and adults with a simple nasal spray of the hormones lacking in the person, hormones which shut down the kidneys when sleeping.

7stephenmrichards

Eye opener

Interesting. Unique. Touching. Inspiring. Most memorable moments: when the mother expects a smell in the bathroom as the son hides out, when the son is amazed that lifting weights makes him bigger, and how the son grows up overnight.

10bethwestern

born between 1968 and 1971?

then there's all likelihood that you remember seeing this movie as a kid. i was seven when i saw it on TV and it burned permanent images in my head of the sheet hanging outside of the windows and the humiliation the kid endured. through my life i've referred to it only to find that a large majority of people my age were also scarred by this movie, remember the same images and respond the same way when it's brought up: with a wide-eyed sense of excitement and horror.

a true generational flick.

only recently when one peer said, "hey, 'james at 15' played the kid." was i able to track down the name of it.

yay for the internet!

8FDRice

Simply Wonderful performances on a difficult topic.

Simply Wonderful performances on a difficult topic. I really liked the actors, and its a shame that Lance Kerwin stopped acting not too long after that, but I hear he is happy on the Christian Ranch he went to, so, There are many good child actors who for some reason or the other have gone on to do other things, but I'm glad for him. I know after reading this comment you might click no, that it was no helpful, and though thats bad, its your choice. However, my purpose here is to backup the comments already stated. (Should I paste it all in again when so many other people have already stated the facts.) No, I didn't think so. So, go watch it, you won't regret it.

10ThunderKing6

Little confused who this movie was based on and if it was an accurate real movie.

Turns out it is and it isn't.

It's a good small simple 70s movie. It was produced by that boring Prairie show actor.

Overall a nice nugget of a film that explores bed wetting, self-esteem and parenting.

The sound track put me to sleep. That's good though because if you can put me to sleep then you are a good movie exceptional to DC movies.

Trivia
Although the film is fictional and not literally autobiographical, it is based on some of Michael Landon's own experiences. He wet the bed as a teenager and lived with an extremely unstable, mentally ill mother and an indifferent father, who had a very volatile marriage. Consequently, he and his sister, had a very difficult and traumatic childhood which affected him his whole life.

Goofs
When a young John Curtis is locked in a Los Angeles department store he puts on a helmet of the local NFL team The Rams. The story, time wise was in the the early 1950's. The Rams helmet featured thick yellow horns with no face guard at that juncture. In the film, the current Rams helmet was used with thinner streamline horns placed on the sides with the face shield.