Prefontaine (1997)

Based on the life of Olympic hopeful Steve Prefontaine, a long distance runner who lived in Oregon and died young

Director:

Steve James

Writers:

Steve James, Eugene Corr

Stars:

Jared Leto, R. Lee Ermey, Ed O'Neill

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jared Leto	...	Steve Prefontaine
R. Lee Ermey	...	Bill Bowerman
Ed O'Neill	...	Bill Dellinger
Breckin Meyer	...	Pat Tyson
Lindsay Crouse	...	Elfriede Prefontaine
Amy Locane	...	Nancy Alleman
Laurel Holloman	...	Elaine Finley
Brian McGovern	...	Mac Wilkins
Kurtwood Smith	...	Curtis Cunningham
Adrian Amadeus	...	Finnish Teammate
Laurence Ballard	...	O'Hara
Ryan Brewer	...	12 year old kid
Robert Burke	...	Young Pre
Kevin Calabro	...	3rd Airport Reporter
George Catalano	...	Patron #1

Storyline

Life and times of Steve Prefontaine, a young long-distance runner from Oregon who pursued the dream of Olympic gold in Munich and became one of the biggest, yet most tragic sport stars in America.

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Plot Keywords:

runner | olympics | long distance runner | oregon | coach | 

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Taglines:

He beat the odds... And became a legend!

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 January 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Harc a másodpercekért

Filming Locations:

Buckaroo Tavern - 4021 Fremont Ave N, Seattle, Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$311,253 (USA) (24 January 1997)

Gross:

$532,190 (USA) (31 January 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When the runners start off the line for the Olympic 5,000 meter race, one runner obviously moves out of the way of the camera taking the shot. The runner veers to the left at the last second when he would have gone to the right.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bill Bowerman: Pre turned distance running into a blood sport. You wanna know what he meant to folks around here? What was it
[indecipherable]
Bill Bowerman: kids said back then? "You just had to be there."

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Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #26.145 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Love the One You're With"
Written and Performed by Stephen Stills

User Reviews

Captures the spirit of his times

I was a grad student at the University of Oregon in the early seventies when Steve Prefontaine made his mark as a runner there. This film captures his life and times reasonably well, and Jared Leto's performance does a good job portraying the Steve Prefontaine the general public like me knew, though Leto has more of a preppy/Abercrombie & Fitch appearance than the somewhat craggier Prefontaine. Those who knew him then personally can make a better, further assessment. Despite the limitations of its budget (for example, they shot the film in 16mm--Super16 actually), it's one of the 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.