Went to see Race, the new flick about how Jessie Owens went to the 1936 Olympics and punched Hitler in the eye. Metaphorically.

This is a good (but not great) movie that’s just as much about those Berlin Olympics as it is about Jessie Owens as a black athlete in a US under segregation. It follows Owens as he heads off to university, joins the track team, deals with on-campus and event racism. It also follows the Olympic administration in the US as they debate about even going to Berlin. William Hurt’s character advocates pulling out and Jeremy Irons’ character going because athletics should be greater than politics.

What I really liked about the movie was this mix in the story line. I often found myself looking forward to the Americans dealing with the Nazis (specifically Joseph Goebbels) about whether or not America would be attending. The Nazis needed America there to legitimize their Olympic games. This means they’d have to play ball and allow negroes and jews into the games and clean up all the propaganda and hate on the streets (even if it was just for show).

The Jessie Owns story is good also but less surprising. It’s well told and I’d have still enjoyed the movie if it just focused on the racism at home and then showing up Hitler. But in that it went into the dealings and practicalities, the behind-the-scenes stuff, that made the film much more interesting and put proper focus on the decisions Owens has to make. Which is to say, should he go and represent America or boycott German racism. If he goes and gets beaten by the German athletes, then it will be used as Nazi propaganda.

The only thing bringing the movie down is that the movie, maybe to its credit, maybe due to a lack of effort, doesn’t revel in the actual sporting events. It shows the 100 meter in real-time and without a lot of sports-movie-drama. It’s fast, its finished, the Nazis get grumpy, our hero celebrates and gets a medal. There’s certainly drama in the movie, but this doesn’t feel like a typical sports movie. Like I said, this is to the movie’s credit… if it was intentional.

So, yeah, this is a solid, but not great film. It does nothing particularly wrong – it just tells a multi-tiered story about Jessie Owens and the 1936 Olympics. It tells it smart and it tells it well.

Score: 83