Documentarist Steve James (Hoop Dreams), in his first dramatic effort, keeps more than a foot in his old stomping ground: both feet and maybe one hand. It's a true story -- the short life of middle-distance runner Steve Prefontaine -- and it's told with heavy dependence on archive footage, mock interviews, and a shaky hand-held camera. The dramatic interludes are stunted, and the bare facts of the matter lack something in inspirationalism (a flash of wit upon his return home from his Olympic disappointment: "They'll probably name a street after me, and call it Fourth Street"). All the same, there are affecting moments. The terrorist interruption of the 1972 Munich Games is still potent, and the 5000-meter race is wrenchingly staged, and the last lap around the track in a hearse is not just unashamedly, but proudly, sentimental. With Jared Leto, R. Lee Ermey, Ed O'Neill, Amy Locane, Lindsay Crouse. (1997) — Duncan Shepherd
This movie is not currently in theaters.