Zohan: You are right. Let character drive stories and plots, not vice versa. Screenwriting 101, by the way, but most people seem to skip that course.
Zohan: You are right. Let character drive stories and plots, not vice versa. Screenwriting 101, by the way, but most people seem to skip that course.
It has Billy Walsh from Entourage- best part about it!
starmiler wrote:
Zohan: You are right. Let character drive stories and plots, not vice versa. Screenwriting 101, by the way, but most people seem to skip that course.
yes. Too often if the movie has a runner we know we're going to have the big race at the end where the guy over comes and wins or whatever.
I just think running needs to be in the background and be a catalyst for the interaction of the characters.
zohan wrote:
I've often said that we need a "running movie" that's akin to what the movie Sideways was to wine. Yes, the movie is about two friends going to the wine country, and one of them loves good wine, but the movie wasn't ABOUT wine.
The movie was about these characters and what they were going through. We need a movie about runners, but not necessarily about running.
A great example of this is the movie 'Breaking Away', which inspired a generation of cyclists.
and although Breaking Away has a 'big race' at the end, it's not really about coming in 1st or finishing in a fast time.
70s kid wrote:
A great example of this is the movie 'Breaking Away', which inspired a generation of cyclists.
I always like that movie. Maybe because I watched it as a teen age running geek, so I identified with the guy. I assume it was a made for TV movie?
When I read Once A Runner it made me think of that movie as well. I could see it getting the same treatment.
zohan wrote:
starmiler wrote:Zohan: You are right. Let character drive stories and plots, not vice versa. Screenwriting 101, by the way, but most people seem to skip that course.
yes. Too often if the movie has a runner we know we're going to have the big race at the end where the guy over comes and wins or whatever.
I just think running needs to be in the background and be a catalyst for the interaction of the characters.
This has been my hope in fiction for a long time, that a Michael Chabon or Alice Munro have a character who's a runner, with the person's running influencing how they think and act, but with the plot not centering on running.
It's worth noting that the guy who wrote the movie is Jeff Van Wie - the fastest NY 800 HSer ever at 1:48.53.
http://www.dyestat.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=news&news_id=274693
Interesting how most conversions give 1:48 as the equivalent for 4:00....
LetsRun.com wrote:
It's worth noting that the guy who wrote the movie is Jeff Van Wie - the fastest NY 800 HSer ever at 1:48.53.
http://www.dyestat.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=news&news_id=274693
So this is still the best running movie:
I can see kids killing themselves to break through the "pain barrier" like the protagonist does in the scene where he runs himself into the ground. This reminded me of a cross between Boyz in the Hood and the book The Olympian.
Pretty terrible, but watchable none the less.
Small school coach wrote: Pretty terrible, but watchable none the less.
^ This. Awful movie, but not so excruciating that I couldn't stay tuned to see the outcome.
There's only so much a writer can do with running as the subject matter, but I didn't find the story itself to be very original. From the west coast setting and hard-nose coach (like the Pre movies) to the final solo sub-4 (a rip-off from The Jericho Mile), the whole film seemed to be a canned and predictable story.
If you can see it for free, go ahead and check it out, but don't be a dumba$$ like me and pay to watch it On Demand.
I've heard only bad things about this new movie
Precursor wrote:
So this is still the best running movie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx7hjFnzdcI
"The Jericho Mile" isn't a bad movie, but the main character runs like sprinter with a short, choppy stride--doesn't look at all like a world-class middle-distance runner. At least the kid in "4-Minute Mile" runs a bit more convincingly. My favorite running movie is still "Running Brave," the true story of Billy Mills. Now THAT'S a character-driven story. I also like the several movies about Pre.
Running Brave is still the best. Robby Benson whipped himself into 16 minute 5k shape to play the role (which he nails). It does a great job capturing the feel of late 50s to early 60s track.
A Cold Clear Day (biography of Buddy Edelen) is the running story most deserving of being made into a film.
***Spoilers contained in message***
Just watched the movie on Netflix. It was entertaining enough to make it through but you got to love how he doesn't make states because he didn't win the regional meet, only running 4:04. Then the pile of guys all right behind him under 4:10 is real believable.
I watched it on netflix too. The movie itself is too Hollywood. It's obviously directed for a mass appeal that contains drugs, violence, love story, hero's journey, etc. If you can separate yourself from the fabricated running parts it was still entertaining though. The part that bothered me the most was running around the docks as if it was a 400m track and nobody questioning the distance. Why didn't they just go to their HS track and run a time trial? Way more official.
I wonder how many kids tried doing intervals in streambeds after seeing it.
Wife and I just watched this. Was better than expected but if you are looking for a great running movie, this wouldn't be it. This was a decent movie that contained some running. You could tell someone who knew running fairly well was involved with it, at some level, as pointed out earlier in this thread.
7/10
zohan wrote:
The movie was about these characters and what they were going through. We need a movie about runners, but not necessarily about running.
+1
milethon wrote:
***Spoilers contained in message***
Just watched the movie on Netflix. It was entertaining enough to make it through but you got to love how he doesn't make states because he didn't win the regional meet, only running 4:04. Then the pile of guys all right behind him under 4:10 is real believable.
At 86:00 in the movie, the state meet race, there's a runner from the hero's high school in the race. How the heck did that happen? Still enjoyed the movie enough. Also kind of funny, this kid is running back and forth across town late at night carrying a gym bag and that doesn't raise the curiosity of any cops.