I recently caught this on HBO and was dissapointed by what could of been. The story of distance runner Steve seems like it could of been interesting since a character study based on a long distance runner captures on of sports most exciting events.

This movie falls into the classic problematic sport movie dichotomy…ok sport scenes and horrible everything else. The races in Munich is the one real exciting scene in the movie. You feel like you are there and the movie does a good job at getting into the little known strategy behind long distance running.

The problem with this movie is that it fails everywhere else. The main character is doubly flawed- the actual charater is a problem as is the actor who portrays him. Steve Prefontaine is a self centered prick who is cold and distant. Besides this he is also completely one dimensional and most of the dialogue is cliched and boring. We get no insight into why he is such a great runner and all the non-sport scenes center on his shallow boring relationships or where he is going to proove himself next but nothing about what makes him tick. I quickly grew tired of Pre’s continuing attempts to further himself in the sport becuase I cared little for his personal achievements since I didn’t care for him. At the end when he turns down the big bucks for his dreams or racing the Finns we are supposed to feel empathy for him when his arch rival cancels, but by this time I was too bored to care. If you want to watch an uniteresting diluded ass for 2 hours than this is the movie for you.

The other problem dooming this movie is the poor cast. Jared Leto is a no talent hack who has no buisness attempting a leading role of this magnitude. Again he fails magnificently as his one tone delivery of dialogue is reminiscent of a bad high school theater production. He was awfull in My So Called Life, he stank in Requiem For a Dream and he somehow managed to be even worse in this (although his “performance” in Panic Room might take the cake) He has that “Im not that quite there” look in every movie and it drives me crazy. The rest of the cast is misplaced but tries their best. Amy Locane is underused and their relationship is so underdeveloped that it just takes up time in the movie for no purpose. The great Ed Oneil is misused here in a cliched performance. Lee Emery has parlayed a one role oddity of amazmement (Full Metal Jacket) into a movie career that shouldn’t have been.

Bottom Line: By the end of this movie I found myself laughing at it out loud- not something you want to be doing with a serious biopic that is trying to take itself seriously. “Go Pre, Go Pre” – gimme a break.

If you are looking for a fair balance between biographical and motivational, then this is your book. However, if you you are looking for a strongly motivating audio-visual material (e.g. preparing for a race), the movie is just not enough. More workout scenes would have required. No matter, Jared Lareto is great. On the whole, it is worthwile buying this book !

This movie is nothing like the Without Limits. If you want a real movie about Prefontaine with great racing scenes, good characterizations, and Donald Sutherland as Bill Bowerman who can resist that check out Without Limits. Not to mention the actor who plays Lasse Viren actually looks like him not like the 3rd rate actor “Prefontaine” had. When it comes to Prefontaine bio Without Limits is the best bet.