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.

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. They push me, I push them, like Viren does Pre. This movie captures all of the aspects of a race and the qualities of a true runner. If you run for fun, your drive to strive will reach unfathomable levels.

early 70's. The acting is above average. Jared Leto is superb as Steve. Just as good is R. 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. One of my favorite segments of dialogue has Steve and his teammate Pat Tyson jogging along, and talking about the great runner Jim Ryun. 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. Pre's life was similar in some ways to another notable person from an ordinary background, one who set out bravely on a personal quest, of sorts, and who, in the process, like Pre, made a powerful and lasting impression: Karen Silkwood.Coincidentally, Pre's fate and Karen's fate were tragically similar, and only six months apart. In both "Prefontaine" and "Silkwood", the message to the rest of us ordinary mortals is: don't underestimate your life; do your best; and make each day count. You never know when "fate" may intervene.

story. I found his story very compelling. A few hours and a few blocks later, I walked by the "Duck Shop" Univ. of Oregon Ducks which had the two Pre movies for sale. 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. It was surreal to ingest so much of Steve Prefontaine's life in one afternoon. I never did drugs of any kind, but the movie made me high on inspiration. I am a sports guy aspiring 47 year old speed skater , so this movie had a lot of impact on me. I will soon share the experience with my bro-in-law who is a marathoner. I hope to snag him and others to go back with me to the little known Oregon Sports Hall of Fame to repeat the experience. We will follow that up with the two movies. I expect I personally will see the movie and visit the museum time and time again.This is a great movie. I would consider it a sports classic. I highly recommend it. Steve may not be too well known outside the running world and Oregon, but here in Oregon it is a different thing. So maybe you should come here awhile first before watching the movie. I say that, not being a native . For sure, catch the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in downtown Portland across from the courthouse and park. Hey, I feel sorry for them, the clerk told me I was the 2nd guy to come in in two whole weeks! But I will go back not out of sympathy, but because it's a great way to learn sports history and get souped up for Prefontaine .BTW, my sports fav's are too numerous to mention, but off the top of my head... Shaolin Soccer, Chariots of Fire, For Love of the Game, every football game of the last 10 years even though I really don't like football very much , the old B&W flick about the Harlem Globetrotters. I proudly add Prefontaine to my fav's list.As he is known to have said, "To give less than your best is to give away the gift" posted outside the Hall of Fame .

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. It made me pause to see it there, an inanimate object which once clothed someone so highly animated. This film does a decent job of bringing life to that persona.

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.

attached to that city.It was also Prefontaine's downfall, he finished third in his big race to Finnish miler Lasse Viren. 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. R. Lee Ermey and Ed O'Neill play his college and high school track coaches and Lindsay Crouse does a fine job as Leto's mother. Special mention should also go to Kurtwood Smith who plays the voice of the Amateur Athletic Union who Prefontaine faces down and wins. 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.