Saint Ralph the Movie?

rented it and watched it today.

overall, it was cool to have another running themed movie to choose. the director captured the 14 year old mindset well--the kid has finally hit puberty and has no idea what in the world is going on--all he does is think about sex.

the theology of the movie was a little sketchy, but the story was kinda cool. the running scenes weren't what i was hoping to see, and the training left me confused. but, i had to keep telling myself that bannister hadn't even run sub 4 yet, so the weird training kinda makes sense.

p.s. for some cool movie footage of a race (a "4 mile marathon!") check out the movie Meatballs with Bill Murray. the racing scenes in the end capture elements of cross-country (and possibly training) pretty well. anyone else seen it?

I thought the movie was great. It is not a documentry or a true story. Its about a high school boy who is told his mother is dying of cancer and only a miracle can save her. Some other guy tells him it would be a miracle if he could win the Boston Marathon; he thinks if he wins it will cure her cancer. Some of the lead up races are actual races in canada , Around the Bay etc. See it and decide for yourself. I'm guessing 90% of the guys here will think it was amazing.

I rented it the other day too and thought it was great. You just can't take it literally, i.e. it's more a fantasy than a sports movie.

The kid was a damn good actor and made me laugh out loud several times. And I'll admit it, I even cried at the end when Ralph put his Boston medal around his mother's neck. Can't remember the last time I did that watching a movie...maybe Old Yeller in elementary school.

Give this movie a chance and watch the whole thing. You really wonder how the director's going to end it and if he'll be able to hold it together, but I think he did a hell of a job.

And for Napoleon Dynamite lovers, Ralph had a few lines that reminded me of N.D.

"Did you see that attempted catch?!"

Very well written, well-acted, well-directed film. But it's NOT A REALISTIC RUNNING FLICK like without limits or Chariots of Fire!

I thought it was embarrassingly bad.

Reverand Barney asks,

Must you be catholic to enjoy this movie?

No, I thought it was more entertaining if

you aren't Catholic. It shows how ridiculous

some of the Catholic doctrine is.

Buy the way, do patent leather shoes really

reflect up?

not catholic wrote:

It shows how ridiculous

some of the Catholic doctrine is.

Bigot.

Are the retail outlets like HMV etc. in Canada selling this DVD or do I have to order it off the internet?

thanks.

I thought it was great. It wasn't a running documentary. The theme of the movie was miracles and in that respect, he did something miraculous (transformation in to Boston contender). Only here would the kid's training regimen get ripped.

Although I did like these lines (paraphrased):

Father Hibbard: How many miles a week are you running?

Ralph: Around 70

Father Hibbard: That's not nearly enough.

now now now... as a recovering catholic myself i found the movie quite entertaining.

definitely more of a 'slice of life' flick rather than a running movie, but it was nice to see a story line revolve around our sport

I watched this movie yesterday and thought it was really good...and quite touching. Sure, to enjoy it, you have to suspend your disbelief a little. After all, the movie is about producing a miracle, and if you get into the spirit of that, it is cool - inspiring, even. I thought the kid and the guy who played his coach both gave excellent performances. This movie was very refreshing. It was a "running" movie, but offered so much more and gave the running a kind of universal significance that anyone can relate to.

jtupper-ware wrote:

Are the retail outlets like HMV etc. in Canada selling this DVD ?

Yes, although some places may be out of stock.

Paul Tergat....he could do that workout in his sleep. Do you know what his average permile pace is in his WR marathon? It is 4:45 pace.....do you really think Tergat couldn't finish up in 4:25 after doing 19 mile repeats.

Typical lets run posting, ignorant unthought out posting!!!

Get it together douche bag!!!

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned that the 20 mile repeats was a direct spin-off of the 60 quarter workout from OAR. Right down to the coach saying he should do the last repeats by himself.

Probably very little of the training from the 50's would make sense to us today.

The movie made me laugh and there was some running involved. If you want realism rent Seb Coe's "Born to Run" or "Endurance". Even a great runners documented career doesn't necessarily make a great movie. That's why they make up shit to make Running Brave and Without limits more entertaining.

abosultely aweful movie...had to force myself to see it till the end..in fact i fast forwarded the last 20 min or so...just lame.

I could make a more realistic running movie if I video taped my crap for an hour and a half.

It was terrible, I can't believe how many people here thought it was good, or even ok!

The 20 x mile workout was absurd, although that was surpassed in stupidity by the appearance of God, or at least an angel, dressed as Santa Claus and giving form tips to Ralph as runs his sub-5 miles on a course that includes a wet rock staircase.

The theology was totally bogus, the timing totally incorrect--Ralph says at the end, "The Olympics are next year..." but the purported year is 1954.

It was an idea that could, perhaps, have been mildly entertaining, but the product was worthless. If you want running movies to die, keep making them like Saint Ralph.

e- wrote:

The 20 x mile workout was absurd, although that was surpassed in stupidity by the appearance of God, or at least an angel, dressed as Santa Claus and giving form tips to Ralph as runs his sub-5 miles on a course that includes a wet rock staircase.

Yeah, 'cause everything that is ever in movies should be absolutely realistic. If you've got a cool British accent, you can do everything Jame Bond can and get the girl. If you've got muscles and a European accent, you can walk through 50 million bullets without getting felled and take out two dozen bad guys with a catchy line for each.

This movie blew. I absolutly hated the movie as a whole, not just as some running movie. The whole of the movie was just dumb, although I find it funny to look at the symbolism of God being Santa Clause. Santa Clause=not real, so what does that say about God?

Insanely, bad film by any standard. That it was a running movie with a cute concept made it all the more dissappointing.

I also remember wondering, as I watched in horror with my kids, "how many more masturbation scenes could there possibly be?" Well, they kept coming (no pun), somehow rendering what would normally be a "G"-rated story into an adult movie. What were these people thinking?