As a huge armchair sportsfan I was keen to see this when BBC 2 showed it in the UK. This was a story of a man fighting against almost impossible odds, the underfunding of the USA team, his slightly imperfect physique, and everyone telling him he was not good enough to win. But here was a man prepared to fight all of this and be a winner. After an unlucky fourth in the Munich Olympics he made his comeback and everything looked set for a rematch with Viren at Montreal. Tragically he died in a car accident before Montreal could take place. Years later it emerged that the Finland team which Viren represented were blood-doping at this time so who knows what the result would have been on a level playing field. What Prefontaine did achieve was to show how poorly amateur athletes were treated in those days and hopefully this no longer happens. Despite being British I found this film wonderfully moving and had tears rolling down my cheeks at the end. A film of bravery, courage and above all determination .... Bravo, a great film about an even greater man.

As a marathoner I did find the movie inspiring. I first saw it when I was going to a regional state meet for Cross Country (the three mile) in High School. In response to the other comment, yes Prefontaine was a stuck up SOB. Most top athletes are. If you are the best-you are the best and you will not give up that title without a fight. Pre gave a fight to get the title and he refused to let it go. In order to be the best, you have to have the self confidence in yourself to make it there. Goals must be set. Pre made his goals known to the world and even if he failed, he still acted like he won because that is what it takes to be the best, to even compete with the best. Which is what Pre was and what he did.

Prefontaine provides a deeply inaccurate portrayal of the life and skill of American track star Steve Prefontaine. The film creates a girlfriend whom he never had, and shows him as uneasy and unconfident about his ability. It makes claims of him having a poor kick to finish races, and yet this is not as large of an issue in actuality, while the issue of his body type not being that of a runners is true. The film is poorly scripted as well, doing a terrible job of capturing Bill Bowerman's personality. Bowerman was certainly eccentric, yet the film shows him in more of a lunatic or crazy form. Especially with the introduction of him by the mailbox scene. Another film created based on Prefontaine's life, Without Limits, truly and best finds the truth. The script and production were overlooked by Kenny Moore (writer), whom was a close personal friend of Prefontaine, and Mary Marx, Prefontaine's girlfriend, in the film Without Limits. The misinformation provided in Prefontaine extremely frustrates me because the least a biographical film can do is stick to the facts.

I saw this last night on the BBC--I don't think it ever had a theatrical release in Britain--and thought it was excellent. I remember this film and its rival, Without Limits, when they were released in 1997 but never saw them. Users have commented on how much this film resembled the '70's era, right down to the soundtrack and overall style of the film, as if that kind of authenticity is to its detriment. It does remind one of that '70's TV movie classic, Brian's Song, but then, what other era should this film resemble?! It's no surprise that the documentary storytelling style works so well since the director and writer, Steve James, made one of the most acclaimed documentaries of the '90's--the basketball flik, Hoop Dreams (highly recommended as well). But shooting a documentary and recreating the style of one are two different things and though they probably both have their perils, recreating that style in service to drama must have much steeper pitfalls. Steve James (and company) completely succeed here. 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. But it's the way that the rest of cast responds to him, their admiration completely palpable and on the surface, that moves the viewer to embrace him as well. 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. Not so with this film. Pre emerges a gifted, young, confused but determined individual who inspires not through his athletic performances but through the strength of his character and what he did for amateur athletics. The ending doesn't so much jerk tears from the viewer as it allows them to flow freely and copiously. An underrated, lost gem of a film.