Without Limits (1998)
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Reviews Counted: 38
Fresh: 30 | Rotten: 8
This drama about American track star and hero Steve Prefontaine intelligently looks at the character of this oft mythologized athlete and features a fantastic performance by Donald Sutherland as Prefontaine's trainer.
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 17
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 3
This drama about American track star and hero Steve Prefontaine intelligently looks at the character of this oft mythologized athlete and features a fantastic performance by Donald Sutherland as Prefontaine's trainer.
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Movie Info
One of two filmed biographies of late track star Steve Prefontaine to be produced in the late '90s, Without Limits comes from director Robert Towne, who previously took a stab at the track-star drama with his directorial debut, 1982's Personal Best. Billy Crudup stars as the ill-fated athlete who overcame physical obstacles to win an NCAA championship and compete in the 1972 Munich Olympics. The film follows Prefontaine from his youth in Oregon where, despite one leg being longer than the other,
Sep 11, 1998 Wide
Feb 16, 1999
Warner Bros. Pictures
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Cast
-
Billy Crudup
Steve Prefontaine -
Donald Sutherland
Bill Bowerman -
Monica Potter
Mary Marckx -
Jeremy Sisto
Frank Shorter -
Matthew Lillard
Roscoe Devine -
Billy Burke
Kenny Moore -
Dean Norris
Bill Dellinger -
Gabriel Olds
Don Kardong -
Judith Ivey
Barbara Bowerman -
William Mapother
Bob Peters -
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All Critics (41) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (8) | DVD (6)
Whether he would have won at the next Olympics, we'll never know. What we do know is that Towne, a man of ruefully romantic temperament, has found a soulmate in Steve Prefontaine.
With a very good part for a change, Sutherland invests the imposing Bowerman with a host of subtly expressed attitudes toward his most illustrious charge.
he understated cinematography by Conrad Hall and sterling work from Crudup and Sutherland lend a patina of class, yet it's in the end a po-faced film.
Top CriticWithout Limits wins as a sports film precisely because it's not really about sports or a great victory.
Without Limits is an admirable departure from the norm, but its greatest strength doubles as an undermining weakness.
As Pre, Billy Crudup is dynamite -- a magnetic star presence who's unafraid to show how Pre's drive also makes him a bit of a prick.
intelligent character study of a mythologized athlete
A brilliantly performed, gut-wrenchingly sad flick
Except for a few lapses, co-scriptwriters Kenny Moore and Towne allow Pre's aura to remain undisturbed by overdramatization and psychological speculation.
Prefontaine's infectious enthusiasm is ably conveyed, although the film might have been a stronger and less earnest effort if producer Tom Cruise had played a more active part.
A couple of sterling lead performances by Billy Crudup and Donald Sutherland.
Bland biopic about runners
Both Crudup and Sutherland deliver superb performances in the support of a thoughtful, committed, and richly visualized film.
Offers plenty of interesting insights into the beauty, the poetry, the drama, and the science of athletic competition.
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