Plodding Drama

Rating: 6/10 (7 August 2011)

This Oscar winner recounts the true story of two British runners who competed in the Paris Olympics of 1924. It opens and closes with a marvelous sequence with men running on the beach in slow motion to the now-familiar Vangelis theme. What comes in between, however, is a plodding drama that unfolds at a pace that is much too leisurely. There are too many heavy-handed conversations about God and country. The two main characters, an angry Jew and a Bible-thumping Christian, are so self-righteous that one doesn't give a damn what happens to them. The running scenes are exciting but slow-motion is overused. Sadly, Charleson and Davis both died young from AIDS.