Kevin’s life is turned upside down when a tragedy sees his track team all killed in a bus accident along with his girlfriend. Haunted by memories this pushes him to achieve even more by really focusing on a mile at a time at a new school and with Coach K.
I guess it was quite a good idea to watch a film about running the day before I took on a half marathon. The 7th year of taking part in the Great North Run to be exact, I mean this film was more about a mile run or 5k running races but the determination and grit it takes to run was something that you can compare.
It would have been nicer if the circumstances were different but that was certainly something that pushed Kevin to the edge. Probably not in the best or healthiest ways to reach his goals, but I thought everything was done in a pretty impressive way showing that grief can then give you something totally different. Flashbacks to his girlfriend and best friend kept him going though the tough training and races spurning him on.
This then makes it rather difficult to keep focused on his current reality as he uses running to escape to the past and happier times. I personally thought the scenes with the running trainers were heartbreaking, no one understood that those were his friends as they had just swapped before that final race and heading home. Kevin was only saved by the tragedy as his parents took him home in the car. Something that seemed to beat him up even more.
I was impressed with Graham Rogers and thought he lead the film in a very good and strong way. Really managing to capture the emotions and putting in a heartfelt performance. I was impressed with the running scenes as well, they really captured the races well and the preparation for them with training sessions. I feel like I need to mention this film along with McFarland, USA as parts of it feel very familiar but good. I love running so seeing more running films is certainly a good thing from my point of view.
I think I would have liked more build up before the crash as it happens pretty much straight way. Instead of just seeing the relationships as flashbacks I think that would have made the character development even better and as a viewer caring that little bit more. On the whole though I found myself really enjoying this one and watching a film about running certainly put me in a good place to do the Great North Run the following day. Something I will be taking part in next year, maybe I will have to watch all possible running films in the build up next year!
If you love sport films I think you should add this to your watch list. Probably not the strongest out there but it has great messages and how sport can really help when it comes to dealing with loss and grief. Inspiring.
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