Race
Based on the true story, Stephan James stars as Jesse Owens –
a young, talented track and field athlete who dreams of heading to the
1936 Olympics. Facing the challenges of racism, poverty and raising a
young child, the odds seem stacked against Owens, but he has a talent
that cannot be denied, and coach Larry Snyder (Jason Sudeikis) knows
it.
Yet, even if Owens can make the Olympic team, the United States is
considering a boycott to show the host country, Germany, that its Nazi
policies are unacceptable.
Meanwhile, Jesse also hears from those in the African-American
community who feel he should make an even greater statement by choosing
not to go to Germany.
Hopefully, those of you reading this review know the history of how
Owens went to Germany, became the first man to win 4 gold medals and
goes down in history as a great American hero (umm, spoiler alert?).
However, Race
is not a gold medal winning movie. It’s more of a bronze
medal winner.
Director Stephan Hopkins makes Race into a traditional, but
slow moving
film. All of the requisite moments are here with big speeches set to
grand inspirational music, a buddy story between coach and student, a
love story about the lady Owens yearns for as she raises his child back
home in Cleveland, and frightening scenes exemplifying the racism
poisoning America and Germany.
Hopkins and the writing team try very hard to get every little piece of
the story into the film, rather than going into a deeper focus on an
episode or a moment. In that sense, Race
is a wonderful history lesson for teens and tweens by exposing them to
such a broad spectrum of themes, stories and subplots. Plus,
it’s an opportunity for the film’s young star to
show what he can do.
James is wonderfully understated as a man who has a burning desire to
succeed where no one seems to believe he can, or people openly oppose
him out of fear that he will. Yet, he also brings an easygoing charm to
humanize a figure many of us only know from newsreel footage or history
books.
Race
never overcomes the obvious challenge. Most of us in the crowd know how
the story ends, so what are you going to show me to shock, surprise of
educate me.
In the end, this is why Race
is just OK.
Race
is rated PG-13 for thematic elements and
language.
134 Minutes
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