Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Bitterblogger This documentary includes some historical footage and reminiscences about the title race, but mainly focuses on six runners, whose quest to compete in the 2005 Chicago Marathon is chronicled with contextual footage about how the training fits into their lives. Since two of these individuals are elite, their running is naturally primary, while the others make the necessary sacrifices, and impose on their families when required (however willingly), to get in the miles. The movie succeeds in the juxtaposition of these two levels of ability and focus, but does little to illuminate the world of the elite runner; from this film, there is virtually nothing other than their training, nor any commentary about this lifestyle, with no coaches even mentioned, let alone heard from; nor why running, let alone the marathon, is so personally compelling or fulfilling for the amateur four (in summing up what it meant to go through it, one said "it's indescribable"). In this way, the film would not tend to excite much interest in knowing about the former, or inspire passion to take up the path of the latter. A missed opportunity.

imdb-15877 I saw this movie with a friend who ran a marathon with me, and we both had the same feeling about it: it wasn't terribly motivating, and didn't even broach the idea of what a training schedule would look like, so that non-marathoners could have an idea of what it would take for them to train and run one. In fact there was almost zero technical information at all. I didn't expect this to be a tech-heavy instructional video, but when that info was near zero then the film just wasn't balanced, and wasn't particularly useful to non-marathoners contemplating their first run.There were other problems. Some of the very first images were people collapsing near death while trying to run a race. Yeah, real inspiring. The timing was also hard to follow, because it was semi chronological, but the filmmakers rarely gave you any good clues as to what point in time you were looking at. And they withheld information. You see that Kantor has an injury, and you just assume it's from all her training, but then several scenes later they finally clue you in that it's because she tripped over a pine cone in her yard.Some parts were very good, though, like the bit about a woman defying race officials who wanted the run to be men-only, and the coverage of a Chicago race where two of the runners portrayed earlier were vying for first place.Off the top of my head, I'm thinking of other chronological documentaries, like Supersize Me, and Grass, where you always know where you are, and you feel like they told you everything you wanted to know.In short, it wouldn't have been hard to make a better marathon film, and as it stands I can't recommend this to non-marathoners to educate and motivate them to try one, because I don't think it will have that effect.

twothirtyseven I was so excited to see that there was a one time viewing of this awesome documentary. Even more excited to see how packed the theater was. I honestly thought I would be one of few to be sitting in the theater. It was great to run into fellow runners there, it seemed that almost everybody knew somebody else. Definitely the most friendliest movie theater experience I have ever had. Now, I have not run a marathon yet. And I have said that 2008 is my year, and I have not determined which one it will be. But watching this movie was great to see the excitement of the runners, and the small glimpse into their lives of training for such an event. I think it was great to incorporate all different levels, from elite runners like Deana and Daniel, to first time runners and even the "sweepers" as they called themselves. I recommend this to any runner, especially if you have run or plan on running a marathon. It was great that there was some humor and the whole theater laughed at points. So it wasn't your information only documentary. It was a huge inspiration for me, and if it wasn't 11:00pm when I got out of the theater, and only a chilly 17 degrees, I would have gone running myself. I look forward to this on DVD, and I hope it gets on DVD soon!

mightymountaingorilla The movie focused on several people from all walks of life (professional, younger, older, etc.) who have decided to take on the challenge of the marathon. It presents all of their compelling stories and gives us insight into the training (both mental and physical) that goes into preparing for such an arduous run.Additionally, the movie provides a good amount of detail about the history of the sport, with commentary from writers, historians, athletes, etc., who all think of this as the ultimate human competition.The movie is well-written, well-scored, and has very, very genuine people who I could relate to. It does a great job in helping the audience live the marathon race through these characters, feeling elated at their successes, diminished when they fail, and anxious when they see the finish line in the distance.Big thumbs up!