Two boring movies for the price of one

Rating: 2/10 (3 February 2003)

I can understand why athletes and very religious people might be into this movie, but personally it didn't do anything for me.
The portrayal of prejudice against Abrahams was interesting, and probably the best part of the movie (and I'm not even Jewish). However, the religious themes were preachy and heavy-handed at best. The overall motif of doing what you feel is right versus doing what you and others would like you to do has been dealt with in much more compelling ways in much more interesting movies.
My big beef with this movie is it's lack of focus. It's basically two movies--one about Abrahams and one about Liddell. One keeps expecting them to come together, but even up to the end, they really don't. Yes, they both go to the same Olympics. However, they don't race together, they don't converse. They're both just... there. The fatal problem hence is the lack of a coherent, fluid plot. It basically bounces all around two under-developed subplots. There's no real focus and no closure for either.

The acting for the most part was fair. The costumes and sets were aesthetically pleasing, but nothing outstanding. The score is good if you can keep from giggling about the melodramatic use of early-1980s synthesizers. Perhaps the technical aspects of the film were fabulous 20 years ago, but by today's standards, it's nothing special (which I suppose is to be expected).
All in all, unless you're really big into running or athletics, save your energy for a movie that's actually entertaining.