PREFONTAINE
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1997 Scott Renshaw
(Hollywood) Starring: Jared Leto, R. Lee Ermey, Ed O'Neil, Amy Locane. Screenplay: Steve James and Eugene Corr. Producers: Irby Smith, Mark Lutz, John Doonan, Peter Gilbert. Director: Steve James. MPAA Rating: PG-13 (profanity) Running Time: 103 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
As the opening scenes of PREFONTAINE unfold, you could be excused for worrying about its prospects as a drama. Those scenes include a lot of documentary-style footage of track races, as well as "talking head" shots of the actors playing Steve Prefontaine's friends and family, complete with captions identifying the characters. Is Steve James, director of the acclaimed 1994 documentary HOOP DREAMS, simply planning to tick off the significant events of Prefontaine's life, accompanied by predictably glowing commentary? Is he going to be able to tell us a story? Well, anyone concerned about James' ability as a story-teller didn't see HOOP DREAMS. Though he may have a few things to learn about directing actors and writing dialogue, James crafts PREFONTAINE into a compelling character study which takes surprising turns for a sports film.
Jared Leto stars as Steve "Pre" Prefontaine, a distance-running prodigy from the small Oregon town of Coos Bay. Courted out of high school in 1969 by dozens of colleges, Pre opts to stay close to home and attend the University of Oregon, where nationally renowned coach Bill Bowerman (R. Lee Ermey) leads the track team. Pre's intense desire to win makes him an instant success, transcending the sport to become a celebrity who brings attention to the previously under-appreciated 5,000 meter event. With success comes high expectations, however, and Pre heads to the 1972 Munich Olympics favored to take home a gold medal. Then tragedy strikes in Munich, changing the complexion of the Games and setting up a showdown with Swedish sensation Lasse Viren (Tracy Hollister) which will change Pre's life forever.
One of the things which makes PREFONTAINE more satisfying than the average underdog-makes-good bio-pic is that the style gives it a unique rhythm. James has cinematographer Peter Gilbert employ a hand-held camera for many sequences, creating a kind of urgent energy which matches Prefontaine's personality. The script does an efficient job of establishing how his lack of success as an under-sized youth baseball and football player drove him to find a place where his refusal to surrender would be enough, as well as the arrogant sense of personal invincibility which often made him reckless. Jared Leto (heartthrob Jordan Catalano from "My So-Called Life") gives a naturalistic performance encouraged by the documentary style, but his intensity isn't always as convincing as it could be. He has the golden boy charisma down pat, without all the ferocity.
He is convincing enough, however, to make the arc of his character intriguing. The pivot point of PREFONTAINE is Pre's Olympic final, which is delayed by the terrorist attack on the Israeli athletes in the Olympic village; as Pre's doubts begin to grow, the race becomes a frightening first opportunity to fail. Then PREFONTAINE makes the unexpected choice not to be about whether or not Pre wins his race, but about how he responds to a disappointing result. James' use of documentary clips from the Olympics does slow the film down somewhat, but it also establishes the 1972 Olympics as a kind of turning point in the perception of "amateur" athletics. As Pre becomes an unlikely advocate for the rights of amateur athletes, and for reforms in the governing process, his character shifts from a youth obsessed with the idea that only winning can earn him respect to a man who learns to find success in different ways. Most sports movies are about the main character(s) winning, and a few are about the main character(s) just doing their best. I can't think of many other sports movies which were about a character who learns to define himself apart from his sport.
There are plenty of places Steve James betrays his inexperience with fiction film-making, notably with some flat characters like Pre's girlfriend Nancy (Amy Locane) and the tough-but-caring coach played with enthusiasm by R. Lee Ermey, as well as a pace which makes PREFONTAINE feel long at only 105 minutes. Yet there are two scenes in which James shows the kind of handle he has on his material. The first is the Olympic 5,000 meter race, directed with a pulse-quickening energy; you know someone is doing an exceptional job of film-making if you know the result of the race and you are still sitting on the edge of your seat. The second is more subtle, but perhaps more important to the impact of Prefontaine's story. After showing us a number of early scenes in which the cocky Pre races his MG around treacherous curves, James gives us a late scene in which Pre, filled with satisfaction after organizing a successful challenge match with the Swedish national team, drives home from a party. There is an almost subliminal cut-away to his speedometer, showing him driving a cautious 35 miles per hour when he collides with another car. Prefontaine died in the crash at the age of 24, and the success of PREFONTAINE as a film comes from the fact that we appreciate this tragedy not as the loss of a fine athlete, but as the loss of someone who was becoming a fine human being. A subtle distinction, perhaps, but one which separates mediocre directors from good ones. Steve James knows his film-making, whether the subject is fact or fiction.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 gold medals: 7.
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