Prefontaine

When 14 years old, I was glued to the TV set every night during the 1972 Olympic games. I remember well the 5000 meter race and Steve Prefontaine and it was a very exciting race. This movie greatly helps bring closure to the Prefontaine phenomena by telling the story of how Prefontaine embraced challenge and competition, propelled himself to the top, and then his ultimate fate.

To measure a movie's success, I take note of my thoughts the following day. Anyone watching "Prefontaine" in 1972 run the 5000 could not help but be inspired. And now in the late 1990's, the movie "Prefontaine" refreshes that inspiration. A very well done dramatization and documentary.

I rented this one accidentally thinking it was "Without Limits" starring Billy Crudup. I had seen that before and thought it was a great telling of a terrific story. This one was garbage. The acting was generally bad -- like sitcom bad -- and the makeup was ridiculous, as silly as that sounds, but the actors were made to look older for parts of it and it looked ridiculous. In short, this movie sucks. The other one is actually really good. Don't make the same mistake I made. Get "Without Limits" instead. It's way better. I'm really annoyed I just sat through this with my wife and brother. It takes a great story and makes it super-boring. There are not nearly enough races in this movie considering it's about racing.

This is the real-life story of Oregon runner Steve Prefontaine who, despite physical imperfections, draws on inner strength of character, to set American track records, and race in the 1972 Munich Olympics. As a runner myself, I found this 1997 docudrama inspiring.

But "Prefontaine" is far more than a cinematic pep talk for runners. It's a character study of an extraordinary young man from an ordinary background, his personal relationships, and his date with destiny. It is a story that has lasting value.

The film's visuals and music effectively convey the look and sound of the early 70's. The acting is above average. Jared Leto is superb as Steve. Just as good is R. Lee Ermey as Steve's coach, the legendary Bill Bowerman, a man who found a way to make running shoes with the help of a waffle iron. Ed O'Neill, Breckin Meyer, and the lovely Amy Locane are good, in supporting roles.

Leto's acting, combined with a clever script, portrays Pre as gutsy, determined, intense, charismatic, vulnerable, at times reckless, self-absorbed, brash, and arrogant. One of my favorite segments of dialogue has Steve and his teammate Pat Tyson jogging along, and talking about the great runner Jim Ryun. Steve comments: "Forget Jim Ryun; he's done; I'm gonna be the first Steve Prefontaine", to which Pat responds: "It must be nice to want to be yourself".

Later, Pre frustratingly says to his girlfriend Nancy: "All of my life people have said to me: you're too small Pre; you're not fast enough Pre; give up your foolish dreams Steve."

Pre's story is told in another film: "Without Limits"; both now available on DVD, and both good, though I prefer this Steve James directed movie.

Often and rightly compared to other sports films, "Prefontaine" reminds me of a film one might not think of. Pre's life was similar in some ways to another notable person from an ordinary background, one who set out bravely on a personal quest, of sorts, and who, in the process, like Pre, made a powerful and lasting impression: Karen Silkwood.

Coincidentally, Pre's fate and Karen's fate were tragically similar, and only six months apart. In both "Prefontaine" and "Silkwood", the message to the rest of us ordinary mortals is: don't underestimate your life; do your best; and make each day count. You never know when "fate" may intervene.

This is a great movie that tells a universal story...dream big, and when you do anything- give it all you've got. Steve Prefontaine, if this movie is accurate, was not only a great athlete, but he was also a great man. I read a few things about him on various websites, and it seems that he did quite a bit of charitable work in his short life, and he was indirectly responsible for great strides taken in improving the quality of amateur athletics, and the overall treatment of those athletes taking part in it. The movie is cast really well, and it goes a long way to improve my personal view of Jared Leto, who did a brilliant job here. He proves, with this film, that he has a lot more talent than he is given credit for...and this movie, tho no blockbuster by any lengths, is a great film to showcase that talent. The rest of the cast goes to build a solid movie that is crafted into a sort of documentary style film half of the time, and a straight-cut movie the rest of the time. It's a great story that can be used in any context, outside of sports altogether. Like I said, I know nothing about the sport itself, but Prefontaine's death was a tragedy anyway you look at it. No athlete to date can even get close to beating Steve's record, and that alone is amazing.

I was a grad student at the University of Oregon in the early seventies when Steve Prefontaine made his mark as a runner there. This film captures his life and times reasonably well, and Jared Leto's performance does a good job portraying the Steve Prefontaine the general public like me knew, though Leto has more of a preppy/Abercrombie & Fitch appearance than the somewhat craggier Prefontaine. Those who knew him then personally can make a better, further assessment. Despite the limitations of its budget (for example, they shot the film in 16mm--Super16 actually), it's one of the better sports films made and should have had a stronger theatrical run. If memory serves, the release also had a woefully limited marketing budget.

An athletic apparel store in Boston has a glass case which displays one of Steve Prefontaine's running singlets. It made me pause to see it there, an inanimate object which once clothed someone so highly animated. This film does a decent job of bringing life to that persona.