The Long Run

This is a South African propaganda film wherein all the blacks and all the whites interact as if race has never been an issue. The utter lack of tension between the haves and have nots is so distracting that for awhile I thought that this was an intentional plot device and that there would eventually be some secret revealed to explain the phony harmony. No such luck.

Whoever wrote, directed, and produced this movie knows very little about what real marathon running is like (many pudgy athletes easily cover 20-40 miles while not even one runner who looks like a long distance runner is shown!)..

The female lead is very beautiful, and she can act, but she can't run. Her backstory is tantalizingly, but no details ever are offered to explain how this illegal alien has learned such perfect English, self composure, and good mental hygiene. She is the second lead in the film and all we know is that she can run (it would be nice to know why), and that she is smarter than and unafraid of all whites, men, and governmental authorities (why and how this is so is an unforgivable omission).

I am almost always a big fan of Mueller-Stahl, but here he is given nothing to work with. He plays an embittered coach who at 60 still cannot train his athletes without reliving his own humiliating experiences in the same race 40 years before. The story unfolds in fits and starts, jumping over gaping plot holes while lingering forever on Mueller-Stahl's quite unbelievably self-absorbed and obviously ineffective dedication to training runners. By the day of the big race he is totally psychotic, becoming more and more unhinged the closer his runner comes to actually winning the race. Again, a little more backstory could have made his Germanic anal retentiveness less cliched.

It is never made clear what the coach's goal for his prodigy is: to finish, to make it past the hill he himself couldn't conquer, or to actually win. All we know is that he treats her like a robot and screams annoyingly at her to always slow down. No wonder his methods are at one point referred to as "eccentric".

This movie was made with an agenda to depict South Africa in insultingly inaccurate ways. Can anyone still spell apartheid?

This independent production was picked up by Universal Pictures, but it doesn't seem that they gave it much of a theatrical release apart from a brief showing in Seattle. Seeing the movie, it soon becomes clear why Universal didn't have confidence in it. It's not a terrible movie, having some positive attributes. The South African locations, which are well photographed, give this a non-Hollywood look that's quite refreshing. The acting by everyone is pretty good as well. However, the actors aren't able to do anything with a script that doesn't give much depth to the characters. The main characters of Berry and Christine never have one real conversation of significant depth. Quite often they do things without explanation. There are a few scenes where it seems something personal might come out, but then there's an abrupt edit to the next scene, suggesting that a lot was cut out in the editing room. (Despite this, the movie at 113 minutes still feels too long.) And the climatic race is directed in a surprisingly bland fashion, not letting us feel the sweat and pain the runners are going through. Still, as I said earlier, this is not a terrible movie... but you'll still feel underwhelmed by it long before the end credits start rolling.

Armin Mueller Stahl plays a running coach in South Africa to perfection. He tried running the famous 90 Km "Comrade Marathon" when he was younger but never completed it. Now he is trying his best to achieve that missed goal by training a young African woman to succeed where he has failed. This story is not just about running, but about exceeding limits that you set for yourself and doing things that you did not think were possible. It also gives you a picture of whites and blacks in South Africa today. This is an uplifting movie which can be watched by the entire family.

Well, I only caught the tail end of this film on HBO, just the final 10 minutes or so, but I must say that it contains probably the most laughable depiction of distance running EVER put on film! I'm a serious distance runner and a dedicated fan of the sport, and I've sat through many painful demonstrations in movies before. However, nothing could have ever prepared me for what is shown on screen in the final 10 minutes of this movie, it literally defies belief! The depiction of the runners is even more ironic considering that African runners completely dominate the sport, and they are elegant and graceful. The female protagonist shuffles along like an overweight pregnant woman, and her "highly trained" male supporters are no better. Well into the race this alleged world class runner is surrounded by pudgy, overweight people, many of whom are WALKING! I find it interesting that the director decided to have her lead the female competition, yet near the end she is shown passing people who look like they're staggering along on two broken legs! Are we to believe that this amazing stellar athlete has only overtaken a crippled person at the very end of the race? Maybe the director just thinks that female runners can't run faster than 12 minute miles, and he has obviously never heard of athletes like Paula Radcliffe or Tirunesh Dibaba.

Even if you aren't a running fan you'll be astonished by the insanely inaccurate portrayal of running, and this movie is only watchable as unintentional comedy. Here is a note to the director: The next time you decide to make a movie about a sport, it might be worth it to hire at least one person who actually has observed that sport in action.

Even if you are not a runner, you'll enjoy this film. It has wonderful dramatic and emotional highs and lows - get your tissues ready for the end! It has plenty of real life frustration, without the usual Hollywood gloss. Armin Mueller-Stahl is terrific, on many levels of the characterisation.