Prefontaine

Plot synopsis:
Steve Prefontaine, a Coos Bay, Oregon student, is too small to play most sports but becomes a talented distance runner. He enrolls at the University of Oregon in 1969, and meets fellow Oregon Ducks track and field athletes Pat Tyson and Mac Wilkins. With coaches Bill Bowerman and Bill Dellinger, "Pre" wins three national cross-country championships and four consecutive 5,000-meter runs, breaking the U.S. record in the latter. Prefontaine gains fame as an aggressive runner who likes to be out front from the start, rather than biding his time until a strong finish.
Prefontaine accompanies other top American runners including Frank Shorter and Jeff Galloway to the 1972 Munich Olympics, where they witness the terrorist attacks of the Munich Massacre which interrupt and almost cancel the games. In the 5,000-meter, after leading with only 150 meters to go, three different runners including the winner, Finland's Lasse Viren, pass Prefontaine and he does not win a medal.
After his college career ends, Prefontaine prepares for a rematch with Viren at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The strict amateurism rules of American non-collegiate sports force Prefontaine to turn down a lucrative offer to become a professional runner, instead working as a bartender while living in a trailer home. He becomes an activist to help American athletes compete against better-funded international rivals. On May 30, 1975, after drinking alcohol at a post-meet party, Prefontaine is killed when his MG convertible flips while driving. After his death, the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 gives athletes more control over their sports' governance.

Tags: flashback, murder, anti war, home movie

Review:
This is the real-life story of Oregon runner Steve Prefontaine who, despite physical imperfections, draws on inner strength of character, to set American track records, and race in the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Lee Ermey as Steve's coach, the legendary Bill Bowerman, a man who found a way to make running shoes with the help of a waffle iron.
Ed O'Neill, Breckin Meyer, and the lovely Amy Locane are good, in supporting roles.Leto's acting, combined with a clever script, portrays Pre as gutsy, determined, intense, charismatic, vulnerable, at times reckless, self-absorbed, brash, and arrogant.
Steve comments: "Forget Jim Ryun; he's done; I'm gonna be the first Steve Prefontaine", to which Pat responds: "It must be nice to want to be yourself".Later, Pre frustratingly says to his girlfriend Nancy: "All of my life people have said to me: you're too small Pre; you're not fast enough Pre; give up your foolish dreams Steve."Pre's story is told in another film: "Without Limits"; both now available on DVD, and both good, though I prefer this Steve James directed movie.Often and rightly compared to other sports films, "Prefontaine" reminds me of a film one might not think of.
Jared Leto gives a compelling performance as Pre and forces the viewer to sympathise with him in very unique ways.
He's not immensely likable but when he runs...one understands that great athletic performers, like Steve Prefontaine, did not win races on personality alone.
He's heartbreaking when he asks, "Do I look like a runner?" American sports films usually obscure their central figures by ladling on heavy doses of heavy-handed inspiration.
I was a grad student at the University of Oregon in the early seventies when Steve Prefontaine made his mark as a runner there.
This film captures his life and times reasonably well, and Jared Leto's performance does a good job portraying the Steve Prefontaine the general public like me knew, though Leto has more of a preppy/Abercrombie & Fitch appearance than the somewhat craggier Prefontaine.
Despite the limitations of its budget (for example, they shot the film in 16mm--Super16 actually), it's one of the better sports films made and should have had a stronger theatrical run.
If memory serves, the release also had a woefully limited marketing budget.An athletic apparel store in Boston has a glass case which displays one of Steve Prefontaine's running singlets.
As a runner, I cannot resist but love the story of Steve Prefontaine's rise and fall.
The movie truly captured the spirit of Pre and the emotions experienced by many athletes, not just runners.
When running, I am in my own world, just as the movie shows, everything around me is just a backdrop, a supplement to my race against myself, my own times, and my fellow runners.
This movie captures all of the aspects of a race and the qualities of a true runner.
This movie greatly helps bring closure to the Prefontaine phenomena by telling the story of how Prefontaine embraced challenge and competition, propelled himself to the top, and then his ultimate fate.To measure a movie's success, I take note of my thoughts the following day.
Anyone watching "Prefontaine" in 1972 run the 5000 could not help but be inspired.
And now in the late 1990's, the movie "Prefontaine" refreshes that inspiration.
The runner's Rocky...A four star film, that inspires and excites..
With so few films devoted the the unique sport of running Prefontaine is a shining beakon.
As a young runner I jad heard stories of this God this Prefontaine, but to me he was nothing more than a funny name with great times.
With this biographical film I could see the enigma, a man I heard stories about but never really knew.
With this movie a hero was born to a new generation, in a portrayal that is so inspirational that after watching I just want to go out and run my heart out.
A four star film than unfourtunatly received little fanfare and has thus been forgotten much like the man it tried to immortalize.
The movie deals well with showing Pre's determination to be the best and the emotions of overcoming failure.
I wanted to buy this on DVD only to find out they don't make it on DVD, and I couldn't understand why, this is an amazing film and you don't have to know who Prefontaine was to enjoy it, although you might appreciate it more......
Prefontaine is the best running movie ever made..
Steve Prefontaine was America's best long distance runner ever.
Prefontaine is filled with great action, that is if you actually enjoy watching someone run on the TV.
After watching this movie you will feel like going outside and running a five kilometer.
A film about the American runner Steven Prefontaine..
It was on BBC2 very late so i thought it wouldn't be a good film because they usually put bad films on at that time of night, but OH MY WORD was i wrong!I loved it!it had a funky kind of feel to it (very cool) and great music!
Jared Leto plays Prefontaine.Truthfully i had never heard of him before but i wont forget him!
not only was he amazing at acting he is very,very, very good looking!!!!!If you love drama, sports, romance, action, or hot guys this film has the perfect amount of everything for your taste!
"Prefontaine" tells the story of Oregon's Olympic runner Steve Prefontaine who set American track records for all races from 2Km to 10Km, advocated athlete's rights, and died tragically at age 24.
Most likely to be appreciated by those interested in Olympic running or American sports history..
Such fascination led to 2 movies chronicling the life of Steve Prefontaine were made in the 1990's.For first release, the battle of the PRE-bioflicks was won by this movie, and its release and luke-warm reception shelved the Robert Towne-directed Without Limits' for more than a year.Perhaps this story would have been better served as a Made-for-HBO film, where one-name titles like `Prefontaine' give stars like Matt Damon a chance for some good work, and media recognition.This version, directed by Steve James of Hoop Dreams fame is very watchable, with strong support of Jared Leto (Prefontaine) by Lindsay Crouse, Ed O'Neill, Amy Locane, and R.Lee Ermey-excellent in the role of Pre's coach and mentor,  Bill Bowerman, the man who subsequently founded Nike.Maybe not an overly familiar story for the non-runners, this story needed to be told, onceand is told well here..
I felt this movie did a very good job telling the story.
I was a track runner in high school and can remember the feeling standing on the line.The acting may have been a little weak at some points, but I felt Ed O'Neil did a fanstastic job breaking away from his stupid "Ed Bundy" role.
As usual, Mr. Emrey was a pleasure to watch in every scene.There were some comments that the movie should have ended after Munich.
I feel the last half, while not the best part, is probably the most important.I would strongly recommend this movie to anyone, especially anyone who has run track in the past..
Prefontaine's life is what makes this movie watchable, not so much the movie itself.
Lee Ermey and Ed O'Neill as Bill Bowerman and Bill Dellinger, respectively (Pre's coaches), offer good, convincing portraits of these historic sports figures.
On the minus side, the sound track sounds like it belongs in a 70's made for TV movie, and the film's stadium scenes are unconvincing because the shots of fans are done close up to hide the obvious fact that there's only a hundred people or so in the stands and not the thousands that watched Pre race in reality.
While this is an interesting film, well-made and thoughtfully constructed, the deviations that it takes from standard storytelling cause it to fall a little flat.Namely, what feels like it would be the climax in another movie (Prefontaine's race in the Munich Olympics) falls about half-way into this film.
(Not to mention the fact that a standard climax is prevented due to the actual events surrounding those Olympic games.)The second half of the film concentrates on Prefontaine's frustrations and difficulties following the games (stemming both from the events that occurred there, and also the treatment of amateur athletes in general around that time).
Because of this, the second half of the movie, to me, feels drawn out and longish, even though the movie itself comes in well under two hours.While the interesting format of the film (it is told as though it is a documentary, featuring interviews with now-older friends and relatives of Prefontaine [well, not the real people -- they're all just actors playing the parts]) lets it stand apart from the standard Rocky-type sports film, that uniqueness can't quite make up for the weakness of the structure.(One note -- I was particularly impressed at the way that the characters were aged for their older appearances.
This is a great movie that tells a universal story...dream big, and when you do anything- give it all you've got.
Steve Prefontaine, if this movie is accurate, was not only a great athlete, but he was also a great man.
The movie is cast really well, and it goes a long way to improve my personal view of Jared Leto, who did a brilliant job here.
Like I said, I know nothing about the sport itself, but Prefontaine's death was a tragedy anyway you look at it.
It isn't one of my favorite movies, but it is good enough to watch.
As conjured by Jared Leto, the character of Steve Prefontaine was an unlikeable pretty-boy SOB, who basically inspired disbelief in me...does it really require that level of narcissism to be an exceptional athlete?
It covers a lot of important people in sport , not just the main protagonist , which makes things even more interesting.It led us to watch the excellent documentary one day in September and Munich ..
The only reason why I watched this movie was the actor Jared Leto and at the beginning it kind of looked like a slow, boring movie.
Jared Leto did such a great job and the movie was done very well too.
The story, the movie is great!
Like it is just the telling of facts about a great person.But not in this movie.
I don't only want to find out more about Fontaine, but like someone else in a review said, after watching the movie you just want to go outside and start running!
I am goofy for any sports movie, so I don't tend to go out looking for one to watch, otherwise it is just not a special experience.
I have never had any interest in this store before, but now I knew I had to get my Pre movies.I watched this one (Prefontaine) first.
I am a sports guy (aspiring 47 year old speed skater), so this movie had a lot of impact on me.
I had never heard of Steve Prefontaine before I learned that they were making a movie about him, even though he was from Oregon.
"Prefontaine" mostly does a good job, although it goes a little overboard in focusing on how the assassinations at the 1972 Olympics affected him personally.
Also, I would have liked to have learned maybe a little more about his childhood.So, although we may not be certain about how accurate the movie is, it's an interesting look at the athletic world in the early '70s.
See the other Prefontaine Movie.
Being benched during his Coos Bay, Oregon grade school football games only makes young Steve "Pre" Prefontaine more determined to succeed.
Fulfilling his athletic dreams in becoming a college track star, Mr. Leto makes it to the 1972 Munich Olympics, which are targeted by terrorists.
Leto looks forward to his next Olympiad, but fate has other plans Mr. Prefontaine was the subject of two biographical films released almost simultaneously, this one and the bigger-budgeted "Within Limits" (1998) starring Billy Crudup.
The two life-telling movies elevate Prefontaine and, upon seeing them, the attention seems warranted.
After you get used to his sometimes looking more like a carefully made-up 1970s physique model than a runner, Leto slowly convinces.
The use of pseudo-interviews, wobbly camera, actual sports footage, and other filming tricks are less successful, in the long run.****** Prefontaine (1/24/97) Steve James ~ Jared Leto, R.
I rarely take the time to rate, let alone to comment on a movie I give a 6.This one has a lot going for it.
I first thought I was not going to be able to finish the movie because of the format...actors telling stories as if real life friends of Steve, but I'm glad I finished..
I enjoyed this movie very much even though I knew very little about Steve Prefontaine.
Where that film was poetic about running, this is merely a prose biopic, and doesn't really develop the other people in the story (though it must be said R.
But Jared Leto captures the essence of "Pre," the cockiness, the desire, and the running ability he had..
Prefontaine is a movie that touches your heart.
It lets you dream about your own dreams and goals, while watching the life story of a determined long-distance runner unfold.
The documentary style of the film interesting to watch.
Jared Leto played a great role playing Steve Prefontaine.
Another film created based on Prefontaine's life, Without Limits, truly and best finds the truth.
Since he was young, Steve Prefontaine was always too short, too skinny or too slow to be the first choice for any sports  a thing that only made him work harder to become whatever he felt he needed to be and to make the most of any chance given to him.
Keeping his goal of getting three seconds faster every year of university, Pre gets closer to his Munich date while his reputation as a cocky yet gutsy athlete grows.First of all, I, unlike many other thoughtless reviewers have put a spoiler warning on this review because I, like countless others, had never heard of Steve Prefontaine and therefore didn't know how the film would end; didn't know, that is, until the very plot outline on this site proclaimed it.
In telling this story the film tries to develop a character while also making sure it delivers the basic memorable moments in his career.
The docu-drama approach worked better than I expected it would and the film does have a good pace (sorry) to it and, because it made Prefontaine an interesting character it actually made for a quite emotional film.The cast work pretty well; certainly Leto's presence had me worried but he not only had a good resemblance but did well with the material he was given.
Ermey is good value here in one of only three films where he doesn't play some sort of sergeant-major (I'm joking but it feels like it could be true) and is a nicely grizzled character.
Support from O'Neill, Meyer and others is OK but really the film belongs to the lead two and, although Leto is hardly the life of the film, his character's story is worth the watch.Overall this is a solid, if unspectacular film that may not win you over if you have a working knowledge of Prefontaine but, for me, it was interesting at the level that it was presented.
An interesting story that told me what I needed to know  could have been better but did enough to work for me..
A great film about a greater man .......
Prefontaine - great movie for running enthusiasts.
Running is one of my favorite activities, so I found this movie and wanted to see what it was about...Prefontaine was an outstanding American runner, never heard of him until I stumped into this movie, (starring Jared Leto, who I think is perfect for portraying a runner)...
I like people like Steve Prefontaine who didn't leave this world without being remembered, despite dying at such young age...and who are moved by their heart, nothing can stop them, it's very inspiring.
I also enjoyed the acting, but the fact that it is a real story, and the fact that it happened during a world known tragedy (The massacre during the 1972 Olympic games in Munich) that touched the life of this athlete, makes it more interesting, so is not just a movie about runners..
Some years ago I had seen the 1998 movie about Prefontaine starring Billy Crudup and really enjoyed it.
In fact Leto is so good in this role it is often hard to tell if we are seeing him or the real Prefontaine in some running scenes.I remember Prefontaine well from the early 1970s because I was a young adult then and still an avid track and field fan.
It is too bad his life and running career were cut so short with the automobile accident.A good segment of the middle of the movie depicts the 1972 Munich Olympics, the one where Arab militants killed some Israelis, and throwing the games into turmoil.
Thus the comment, "They might name 4th street after me." Jared Leto is Steve Prefontaine, R.
And Amy Locane is good as Pre's girlfriend Nancy Alleman.Those who are indifferent to track and field might not enjoy this movie, but for us fans it is truly a fine movie..
Jared Leto plays the title role in Prefontaine, a biographical study of the American track star who rewrote all the record books in his short life for distance running.
He got a rematch of sorts against Viren in Oregon, but before the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Prefontaine was killed in automobile crash.Jared Leto does a fine job in essaying the part and showing the hopes, dreams, and frustrations of Steve Prefontaine.
They've been running amateur sports in this country and in some cases arrogantly and not too well for most of the last century.It's a good sports film and should be seen in combination with Chariots Of Fire to see how amateur athletics are dealt with in a different time and culture.