It’s out of place because “Race” doesn’t acknowledge why Riefenstahl was there in the first place: to document the supposed superiority of the White race. It’s not that she shouldn’t have been in the movie-after all, her “Olympia” (which I’ve seen and is quite interesting) captured the footage of Owens to which we otherwise would never have borne witness-nor is it because of Carice Van Houten’s (“Black Book”) performance (she’s good). But I’m giving the film a marginally negative grade for three reasons, none of which should prohibit you from seeing “Race” if you so desire.įirst, the Leni Riefenstahl scenes are completely out of place. I can see it being shown in high schools as a teaching tool and to track teams like the one I once ran on in my youth.
#JAMES AVERY ACTOR JEWISH MOVIE#
Since there has only been one other telling of Owens’ story (the 1984 TV movie starring Dorian Harewood and Debbi Morgan) “Race” is to be commended for bringing a new generation to this American hero. Long’s admiration for the man he hoped to beat led him to violate several unspoken rules of the games, including celebrating with Owens after he breaks the long jump record. These scenes highlight what “Race” could have been had it focused more on Owens’ personal relationships.
James is also quite convincing in Owens’ heats, running in the same manner Owens would have back in 1936. The best scenes in the film occur in this section, when Owens meets Carl “Luz” Long (David Kross), a German rival who later becomes a very good friend. The tricky camerawork, the CGI crowd and James’ awed reaction work together to present a “you are there” moment that’s truly captivating. Whether he’s arguing with Hurt’s Jeremiah Mahoney or negotiating with Barnaby Metschurat’s Goebbels for an appearances-sake only moratorium on the harsh treatment of Jewish people, Irons is a commanding presence even if you know the film is downplaying some of the more sinister aspects of his storyline.ĭirector Stephen Hopkins shoots the film, and the big races, with minimal fuss or theatrics, but he does have one superbly showy moment when Owens first enters the Olympics stadium. Irons, as Avery Brundage, is especially good here he brings a Trump-like essence to all the showy, non-athletic scenes. The solid cast is rounded out with veteran actors including Jeremy Irons and William Hurt, both of whom elevate the material. Despite an admirable attempt by Banton and James to bring a sense of romance to their underwritten scenes, and James’ enjoyable interactions with a surprisingly good Jason Sudekis as Coach Larry Snyder, it often feels as if Jesse Owens is trotted out simply to win the races that made him famous. More time is spent on Riefenstahl interacting with people than Owens bonding with his teammates or training. It goes nowhere except to the land of cliché, serving as a means to inject conflict into the Owens’ relationship. For example, there’s an interminable subplot involving Owens’ dalliance with a woman who was not his high school sweetheart/eventual wife Ruth ( Shanice Banton). To its credit, “Race” ably covers all this material.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wouldn’t congratulate nor meet with him, and Owens couldn’t use the front door of the Waldorf-Astoria to attend a dinner held in his honor. Owens (a fine Stephan James from “ Selma”) chose to defy a boycott-favoring consensus that included the NAACP in order to live his dream of Olympic glory, yet when he returned with four gold medals, his heroics were no match for the racist status quo. The games were presented by Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels as proof of Aryan superiority, yet their athletic German engineering was no match for a man deemed inferior to Whites by the United States and Nazi Germany. Shady, controversial dealings stopped an Olympic boycott and enabled the United States to compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Owens’ story is a fascinating tale of record-breaking athleticism enacted in a time of racism and anti-Semitism.
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