Review of Race (2016) by Kj P — 07 Sep 2016

True stories about athletes have been the same for decades. An unlikely man becomes the champion in a sport that nobody believed he could. It is has almost become a custom for films of this type, so it all comes down to whether or not the writing does anything new and clever to draw a crowd. While I do not believe Race is the film to win over any new viewers of this particular genre, it is definitely a heartfelt depiction of its main focus in Jesse Owens. Here is why I believe Race is better than the average true story about an athlete, while still following the same tired formula.

Against all odds, Jesse Owens (Stephan James) goes from living in a lower-class home with a fairly large family, to very quickly becoming globally known as one of the most talent olympians in history, at the time. Taking place in the mid 1930's and dealing with racism and rights, Race has many more meanings to its title. That is by far the most compelling aspect about this film. The fact that this man was able to sound out the chatter being thrown at him on a daily basis and just focus on his dream, was absolutely inspiring to say the least. That being said, although the core story in Race is compelling, the pacing and lack of excitement is sorely absent.

We live in a time where audience members demand superhero battles every 30 seconds in order to be entertained, forgetting about the fact that there are some truly great dramas out there every year that go under the radar. While Race is not a fantastic film that I think should have been seen by everyone, its story is definitely worth the price of admission. On the other hand, the racing throughout this film hardly ever embraces the use of fast or slow motion, leaving out any opportunity to feel what each character is feeling in the moment. Each race plays out more like a live-television event, but if that it what they were going for, job well-done. I personally felt extremely let down by this, feeling no sense of excitement, and being a 130-minute film, it began to drag fairly quickly.

Pairing Jason Sudeikis as his mentor was a very questionable choice right off the bat, but quite honestly, he may just be the best part of this film. The deep character moments between him and Stephan James were tremendous and you truly believed that they shared this chemistry in real life. James' chemistry with his significant other, played enjoyable well by Shanice Banton, was off the charts and had me slightly tearing up every time they were on screen together. Of all the great character moments throughout this film, you would think that it would be a more compelling story, but the core of this film is about Owens' racing, which is probably the least interesting aspect about it.

While I was able to find much more enjoyment than disappointment throughout the duration of this picture, it goes without saying that it could have been a much tighter script in the end. Overall, Race embraces its core characters and fleshes them out very well, but leaves the real story slightly muddled in the final act. It feels about 20-30 minutes too long, and yet I still found myself needed more, which is definitely due to the slightly boring screenplay. Did I believe everything that was happening? Yes, but it did feel dragged out and overlong. Race is a great cable watch, but not something you have to rush out and see.