On P List of Movie Reviews
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Prefontaine (1997)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
3/03, 1/08, 11/21
1/08:
The only good part about Prefontaine is the archive footage of the real Steve Prefontaine, but the rest is junk.
Prefontaine grossed approximately $600,000 against a budget of $8 million while
Without Limits scored about $800,000 versus $25 million. Hence, the verdict is
in: nobody cares about Steve Prefontaine. I have a better idea: why not turn Prefontaine into a documentary
that's replete with archive footage and interviews? It should be right up Steve James' alley given what he did with
Hoop Dreams.
But no...he decides to go the hard way by creating a mediocre film about a legendary runner and failing to make it
stand out in front of Without Limits. However, these two are different, leading to
my confusion of which told the more accurate story. Anyway, I have to give the edge to Billy Crudup over Jared Leto and
Donald Sutherland over R. Lee Ermey for giving better performances of Steve Prefontaine and Bill Bowerman, respectively.
All in all, it's nice to know there exist Prefontaine and Without Limits,
but neither provides a satisfying experience if I want to know who Steve Prefontaine really was.
11/21:
I've now decided Prefontaine is better than Without Limits when I initially
thought it's the other way around.
Both do an okay job of explaining who Steve Prefontaine was. I also read the book by Tom Jordan, but it wasn't
significantly better. The problem remains: they never get to the core of the famous yet obscure long-distance runner.
When I mean the word "obscure," Prefontaine tanked during its theatrical run, taking in a bit more than half a
million dollars against an $8 million budget.
At least, the movie does well by going through the main points of Steve Prefontaine's life but embellishes a few incidents
such as how he hurt his foot prior to the NCAA championships. Comparing Jared Leto to Billy Crudup, the former gives a
performance while the latter is closer to the guy himself as far as looks go with a smoother running form.
Sadly, Prefontaine makes a good case of somebody not learning a lesson from the story despite appearing in the film.
Amy Locane, who plays Prefontaine's girlfriend, was sent to prison for a fatal DUI accident in 2010. Her BAC was 0.23
percent. After that, she got divorced and lost custody of her two daughters. Currently, she's serving time and will be
out in 2024.
All in all, if you've never heard of Steve Prefontaine, Prefontaine is a good start.