Review of Chariots of Fire (1981) by J D — 01 Nov 2007

I think I missed something. It's a decent enough story, I guess, but dry as a bone. The whole time I was watching this, I kept asking myself "How in the heck did this win Best Picture?" The characters are underdeveloped, some of the acting is noticeably cringe-inducing, and some of the dialogue is eye-rollingly bad.

Case in point, before the big race with Liddle, Brad Davis' character comes onscreen to talk to a fellow American runner who says something like "Coach said not to worry about him" Davis says something like "He's got something to prove.

Coach will never understand guys like that." And then he walks off again. Just lame character development, especially for a movie that's so highly lauded. I will be forever mystified why people think this movie is so amazing.

I just don't get it.