Prefontaine

Steve James came to this fiction feature straight from Hoop Dreams and could not quite leave the documentary behind. Actors appear aged up, talking to camera about Steve Prefontaine in the past tense, so you know from the first minute how it ends: the runner will die in a car crash at twenty four. Jared Leto plays him and R. Lee Ermey plays the Oregon coach Bill Bowerman. The Prefontaine family cooperated, which keeps the film factually careful and a little too reverent. The 1972 Munich Olympics section is the strongest stretch, partly for the race and partly for the shadow those Games cast over it. An odd piece of bad luck follows the film. The same life was filmed again a year later as Without Limits, and this one's weak box office pushed that release back, so the two are now permanently discussed as a pair. Who it is for: track fans and period texture. Who it is not for: anyone wanting psychological depth from a biopic.