Director: Mark Lewis
Writer: Mark Lewis (Screenplay)
Starring: Yelena Friedman, Maggie Alexander, Scott Lewis, Amanda Kristin Nichols, Josiah Schneider
Plot: Jody, a lonely teenage girl, joins forces with Hannah, a disgraced track coach. Together, they spend a summer training for The Pinnacle Games, the biggest track and field competition on the East Coast.
Tagline – Two Women. One Competition. One Summer to make it all happen.
Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Strider starts by following isolated teenager Jody (Friedman) who is living with her father Bill (Lewis) and twin nightmare little brothers Donny and Davey. Jody uses running as an escape from her life, clearing her head. On her latest run, track coach Hannah Dalton (Alexander) sees stamina, offering to teach Jody to improve.
Hannah believes she can get Jody ready to enter The Pinnacle Games the biggest track and field competition on the East Coast. Teaching her discipline and focus on something for the first time in a long time for Jody, leaving us to see if she can follow through with this training.
Thoughts on Strider
Characters & Performances – Jody is a lonely teenager, she keeps to herself in high school and facing an unsure future, not knowing what she wants from her life. She struggles to fit in at home with her father and two younger brothers, finding her only happy place in running. Jody has never had anyone believe in her before, until Hannah sees a future for her in running, giving Jody a focus, she hasn’t had in years, a potential escape from the world she feels is consuming her. Yelena Friedman must give us two types of performances here, first is the character who is feeling hopeless, with the second being the physical one, performing the constant amount of running. She delivers on both of them, bringing us a character whose decisions will make us understand her struggles. Hannah Dalton is a former track coach that is struggling for money or finding herself a new job. She notices Jody running, seeing it as a chance to get her reputation back, taking Jody under her wing. She is strict with what she expects from Jody, promising to teach her to become her best. Maggie Alexander is great in her role, being us a character that is showing the determination and desperation to achieve again. Bill is the father of Jody who is trying to encourage her to find a passion, but he is prepared for her to give up on her ideas. Tim is the new boyfriend for Jody, somebody that will make her feel happy outside of the world she finds herself in. these two are mostly supporting characters who are meant to for support for Jody.
Story – The story here follows a lonely teenager that finds herself being trained by a fallen track coach giving her a new lease and target in her young life. This is a story that is about a young person getting the guidance they need in life, showing them that somebody is willing to help them, guide them and showing them more in life. We do get to keep the story side simple enough by showing the training montages, showing struggles at home Jody has. We could see the inspiration in finding the new direction in life, for both Jody and Hannah.
Themes – Strider is a sports drama that will show us commitment needed for Jody to make it, we get plenty of different running environments, which will offer from different types of training to help her find the skills she needs to achieve something she never imagined.
Final Thoughts – Strider is an inspiration sports drama, proving anyone that could find a goal in life.