Prefontaine (1997) Review
When he arrived at the University of Oregon Steve Prefontaine had his eyes set on being the best, and he took the world of running by storm. With his unwavering self-confidence, cocky attitude, and flowing hair, over his time at Oregon Prefontaine solidified his place among the most iconic American runners of all time. You’d be hard pressed to find a high school runner, who upon mention of Prefontaine, doesn’t immediately picture Pre’s face hauling down the final stretch of Hayward Field. He was a running rockstar and he made the sport of running cool for generations to come. The 1997 movie Prefontaine made an attempt to portray this image and the display the significance Pre made in the world of running.
The movie, featuring Jared Leto as Prefontaine, tells the story of Steve Prefontaine. The undersized kid from rural Coos Bay Oregon who would go on to win NCAA championships, represent the country in the Olympics, and set numerous American Records. The movie begins by showing the viewer a little bit about Prefontaine’s childhood, how he got into running, his high school success, and how he eventually ended up running for Bill Bowerman at the University of Oregon.
While the movie’s primary focus is Prefontaine, it does a great job balancing out Prefontaine’s story with other important happenings at the University of Oregon at the time. This includes the coaching of the legendary Bill Bowerman, who co-founded Nike at the time and gave Prefontaine shoes throughout the movie to try out. The 1972 Olympic games in Munich was also covered during the movie, along with the story of Prefontaine’s college teammate Mac Wilkins who would go on to compete in several Olympic games.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie a lot. It had been a while since I first saw this movie, when my high school cross country coach made the entire team watch. It was fun to revisit Prefontaine’s story after some time. I think Jared Leto does a good job portraying Steve Prefontaine and embodying his cocky, yet likeable, attitude towards running and his competition. The supporting cast does a great job of setting the scene and the exciting times at the University of Oregon in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
If you aren’t familiar with Steve Prefontaine’s story, this movie is a great place to start. It provides a thorough background of his childhood, his time at the University of Oregon, and post collegiate running. If you are familiar, it’s a film that stands the test of time. It’s easy to watch this film and have the desire to run and compete. Prefontaine didn’t care who he was racing against, he was going to run hard and break them. This movie provides an enjoyable watch of Prefontaine’s incredible story.
