Race (2016)

This is the Jesse Owens (Stephen James) story starting in Cleveland as he bids farewell to his baby mamma and child as he heads off to Ohio State. It ends in Berlin.What I enjoyed best was Leni Riefenstahl (Carice van Houten) who was instructed by Hitler to film the 1936 Olympics and did so in spite of Herr Gobbels (Barnaby Metschurat). While the film has the expected feel good chest swell due to the subject matter, I never was able to connect to the main character. While some say Stephan James "nailed it" and that may be true, I didn't feel all the issues he had to face, perhaps because he was accepted them quietly and timing his outbursts.No swearing sex, or nudity. Did people use "hell" on the radio, and did they say "good luck with that?" BTW Germany got the most medals in the 1936 Olympics.

"Race" is a nice biographical pic about the track and field athlete Jesse Owens. You'll enjoy this film for the drama and suspense that is displayed in it. This film is a well put together piece of work that keeps the memory of Jesse Owens alive with good acting coming from Stephan James, who played Jesse Owens, and Jason Sudeikis, who played Larry Snyder, Jesse Owens' coach. Speaking of Jason Sudeikis, although he did a good job, I had to get use to seeing him playing a serious role with this film. This film was well written too. It illustrated Jesse Owens' life and how society was towards people of color and other minorities and the hard aces they had to endure in those days especially competing against Adolf Hitler and his Aryan race ideology and proving them wrong. This film is definitely worth the watch. It's a film for everyone and everybody no matter who you are. It will keep you entertained and at the same time informed on some history. I definitely recommend it. You won't be disappointed.

Although I enjoy history, I'm not so into it that I can tell you whether there are significant discrepancies between this film and reality. So, I'm going to focus on the film itself. And in regard to that, this film truly impressed me.What was strongest here, in my view, were a number of the performances. First off, Stephan James as Jesse Owens is remarkable. As I began watching I remembered that he had played John Lewis in the film "Selma". He was very good there, and even better here. Let's put it this way...I hope to see more of him in films in the future.I understand that many people questioned Jason Sudeikis playing Owens' coach. I guess I'm too old, but I'm not familiar with Sudeikis, but I think it's a really good and convincing performance. A lot of comedians are also excellent actors. If this is representative, Sudeikis may be in that category.Jeremy Irons, looking old here, is excellent as Avery Brundage of the IOC. I was interested to see David Kross as Carl "Luz" Long, a German athlete who befriended Owens. Kross was superb a few years back in "The Reader". This is a much smaller role, but key to the story. The one mistake in casting was whoever the actor was who played Adolf Hitler. I didn't feel it looked like Hitler at all, and since the actor had no speaking part, it was difficult to judge, but it was the one thing in the film I would really criticize.I'm not much into sports, but occasionally I find a film about sports that I really enjoy. I enjoyed one immensely. I highly recommend it. It seems very realistic in terms of locations (which to a large extent are real) and in terms of racial attitudes of the era...and I mean that as much about the United States as I do about Germany. What our Black citizens had to go through makes me weep.

It's 1933. Jesse Owens (Stephan James) leaves his home in Cleveland to go to Ohio State. Former track star Larry Snyder (Jason Sudeikis) is the coach of a losing program. He sees natural talents in Owens and aims to win gold in 1936 Berlin. Owens has a daughter with Ruth Solomon. Meanwhile, the US Olympics Committee is debating boycott supported by Jeremiah Mahoney (William Hurt). They send construction magnate Avery Brundage (Jeremy Irons) to Berlin to meet Leni Riefenstahl (Carice van Houten) and Joseph Goebbels (Barnaby Metschurat).This is a very sincere, functional historical drama. Stephan James does sincere work. There is very limited drama before the games. There are snippets of insights into this track and field world. The best is Snyder talking over the football team in the locker room to demonstrate a hostile crowd. However, I'm not sold on Sudeikis in this dramatic role. He doesn't have the gravitas. He always seem out of place in this role. The first half really holds very little drama or surprises.Jesse Owens' romantic challenges hold little interest. The NAACP and others pushing for boycott adds a little color. The drama seems to come from Luz, Brundage, Riefenstahl, Goebbels, and finally the replacement of Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller. This indicates a better drama not in the biopic of Owens but a drama behind Berlin 36.