Two films about Olympians that—bizarrely—were released back in February, when nobody yet was caring about Rio. Why didn’t the studios release these movies closer to the actual games? A question that may have no answer…
Race…Solid, if a little sleepy. Jason Sudekis phones it in as Jesse Owens’ grouchy coach, and you never really see the two bond the way the movie wants us to believe, and why does a movie about Owens (who is somewhat of a cipher here) spend more time exploring the thwarted ambitions of his coach? Still, all of the drowsy precedings in the first two-thirds (why on Earth did the movie wait so long to actually get to the Berlin Olympics?) are over when we actually get into Nazi territory. The sequence where Owens enters the Olympic stadium—all in one whirling, exciting tracking shot—is one of the best of the year. Grade: B-
Eddie the Eagle…Owens was a natural and gifted athelete, but the same cannot be said for “Eddie the Eagle,” a boy who wasn’t really Olympic material and seemed to derive even more joy from competing because of that, and his excitement is contagious. Whereas Owens had the societal barrier of race standing in his way, Eddie’s opponent was a rigid English caste system (set not that long ago in the late 80’s) determined to keep him from competing. Hugh Jackman and The Kingsmen’s Taron Edgerton have an easy chemistry, but the shaggy dog tale soars when Eddie is finally allowed to compete at the Winter Olympics ski jump. Grade: B+