Jacob Thomas

Movie Review

February 21, 2017

UWRT 1103

Prefontaine 1997

Prefontaine is a very well renowned runner. His his cocky and prideful attitude made him

very memorable. This is is contrary to how most people view their heroes. One would expect a

hero to be humbled, kind and well received. Prefontaine was so arrogant, abrasive, and self

centered, that to be just like him would make people want to forget you. Then why do we

remember who he was? That would have to be due to his inspirational life story and how his

rough edges blend together to make the perfect dream chaser story.

The movie Prefontaine is a mockumentary about the Olympic runner Steve Prefontaine

and his story on becoming a great inspiration to runners world wide. The movie begins with the

young Prefontaine, played by the strikingly similar looking Jared Leto, struggling to play

football. He then turns to track, despite not having a body built for track. He even has one leg

shorter than the other to make matters worse. That does not stop him though. He runs through

high school, using sheer dedication and guts to out speed the competition. His performance

draws the attention of many college track coaches who have the desire to recruit the young

prodigy. Being his arrogant self, he denies almost all of them saying that they are not good

enough for him, and that he can do better to beat the world record in the mile on his own. He

thought this until Oregon coach, Bill Bowerman, sends him a letter through the unconventional

method of using the front page of a newspaper. Bowerman claims he can make Prefontaine the

best runner in the world. He quickly accepts the offer.

 Upon arriving in Oregon, he is greeted by his roommates with some snarky remarks such

as, Oh look, its the Beverly Hillbillies. Their attitude quickly changes as they get to know

Pre, as they call him. His overpowering dedication and arrogance slowly grow on the rest of his

teammates. Making remarks such as, Forget Jim Ryan, hes done. Im going to be the first

Prefontaine. While some of his teammates and fans love his attitude, discus thrower Mac

Wilkins, another Olympian, has other opinions. He is heard calling Pre a, Cocky mother. To

that, coach Bowerman simply replies, Id like to bottle it up and force feed it to the rest of you

guys.

After making a name for himself at Oregon showing great potential, he wanted to go after

the top spot in the mile. This is where Pre meets his first wall (This by the way is a pun, relating

to what many runners call the wall. It is a point where a runner either loses the will to keep

pushing himself, or physically can not accelerate anymore). Bowerman disagrees and tells him

to go for the three mile. Pre strongly disagrees saying, No one cares about the three mile. Pre

must swallow his pride and make the three mile his own race. He begins to succeed in his new

race, making headlines with this 13:30 time, a very impressive feat.

All while this is happening, Pre is balancing his academics, work, running, and a

girlfriend. As many know, juggling a lot of these things in college is very difficult, and often

times one of them must go. During one of his runs with the team, Pre sees an attractive female

runner and decides to make an impromptu route change. He ends up talking to this girl and

ultimately cheats on his current girlfriend, who he has many times said he was going to marry

and love forever. Both his conflict with his coach and his girlfriend happen early on in his

college career and later on, a larger conflict arises.

 He ends up going to the 1972 Munich Olympics to take a stab at not just the gold, but the

world record as well. Unfortunately, during the final stretch of the 5,000, he runs out of steam

and gets out kicked with only 30 meters to go. He was devastated. This did not stop him

however, he, along with his other track mates, organise their own local track meet. This is so

that he can have a rematch against the Finnish gold medalist Lasse Viren. After a great struggle

to make the meet legal for amature status, Prefontaine is dealt yet another disappointment. Lasse

Viren does not attend the meet due to a strained muscle.

Unfortunately, after the post meet celebration, Prefontaine crashes into a rock wall on his

drive home. The car pins him to the ground and is pronounced dead before responders arrive.

Overall, I would rate this movie 4 out of 5. I believe director Steve James does a good

job mixing the elements of a documentary and a based on a true story film. The several

segments of the real people who knew who Prefontaine was adding commentary really bring

who he was closer to the audience. Casting Jared Leto was also a brilliant move. His dramatic

facial expressions and uncanny resemblance to Pre himself add a sense of realism to the story. In

fact, all actors and actresses share strong resemblances to the characters they play. This is very

noticeable when the movie switches into its documentary mode.

One criticism I have however, is over dramatizing Prefontaines funeral. I do not how

how it went down in real life, but the drastic switch in the mood had brought my excitement for

Pre down to a screeching halt. Whether this was Steve Jamess intention or not, I personally lost

the motivation Pre was giving me.

I was a runner all through high school and had never heard of Prefontaine. I was very

surprised by this because all today the only person we hear about is the similarly cocky Usain

Bolt. This is probably because I was a sprinter and not a distance runner. Anything over two
laps was too much for me. Also, opposed to Pre, I have a kick. My last miles are always a

minute faster, and my beginning miles are always too slow. Overall Steve James took the

notorious Steve Prefontaine and continued his legacy of running and motivation for generations

to come.

References

James, S. (Director). (1997). Prefontaine [Video file]. U.S.: Buena Vista Pictures. Retrieved
February 21, 2017.