Prefontaine
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: January 24, 1997 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
Using documentary-style Super 16 film and staged cutaway interviews with friends and family, James and his photographer and co-producer, Peter Gilbert, fashioned a movie with an affecting, candid look. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
What sets Prefontaine aside from most sports movies is that it's not about winning the big race. It's about the life of a runner. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerG. Allen Johnson
But then, just when it appears the race is lost, Steve James' love for his character and art form kicks in and wins the day, and, though flawed, Prefontaine is an engrossing portrait of a complex figure. Read full review
75
USA TodayMike Clark
His complex personality comes through in this surprisingly affecting minor pleasure, though perhaps one shouldn't be surprised when two of Hoop Dreams' key makers reunite for another smart sports pic. [24Jan1997 Pg.03.D]
70
SalonGary Kamiya
This is filmmaking in a higher-IQ Disney style, frequently verging on terminal sappiness, all heart-quickening-guitar-music, coming-around-the-last-turn, legs-pumping-toward-glory stuff. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubMaria Schneider
But at best, the movie has an air of immediacy, freeing it from the ossified myth-making that plagues many true-life biopics. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleAlison Macor
This successful characterization is definitely a team effort among actor Jared Leto (the brooding Jordan Catalano of television's "My So-Called Life"), writers James and Eugene Corr, cinematographer Peter Gilbert, and musical director Mason Daring. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
For the most part, the documentary segments, in addition to being unilluminating, are intrusive. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
As the driven competitor who learns to make hubris work for him, Jared Leto gives a complex performance that suggests a deep, intriguing interior to the character even as he maintains a convincing one-dimensional facade. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
But in this standard athlete-dies-young presentation, we never do catch the magic that made Steve Prefontaine a towering figure. Instead, this Pre is a shaggy-haired, sentimental favorite -- a teen angel rather than an Olympian. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Though it is always pleasant and agreeable, this film has the bland and undemanding texture that characterizes movies made for network TV. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
This first dramatic feature by "Hoop Dreams" director Steve James has one foot still squarely planted in the docu aesthetic and notably lacks any psychological interest or emotional depth. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineStaff(not credited)
Steve Prefontaine must have been something special -- everyone says so -- but there's no magic on the screen. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
But even after the documentary affectation gives way to a more conventional narrative, the film has trouble ringing true. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The acting ranges from adequate (Jared Leto, R. Lee Ermey) to awful (Lindsay Crouse and everyone else). Read full review
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