You won't be disappointed!

Perfect cast and a good story

A Major Disappointment

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I saw this when I was 14 and I almost walked out of theater it was so bad. It was about as exciting as watching an actual marathon, which unless it's close there's not a lot to hold your attention. The main character (Michael Douglas) was just sad, he really didn't have anything to make you root for him. I have trouble watching other Michael Douglas offerings because of this film. The script was transparent, I was 14 and I was calling events, especially the ending which you can see coming from a mile away. If I could've given it negative stars, I would have.

I saw this IN THE THEATRE when I was 15 and a recreational runner. I found it awful. Ony 2 movies that I ever saw were worse (theater viewings only). The other two movies that were worse were The Other Side of the Mountain and some snowmobiler movie where the guy crashed after flying off a mountain and spent the entire movie crawling through the snow on his stomach. Among films where the main character does not fall off a snowy mountain while traveling fast, this rates as my absolute least favorite.SPOILER:At 15, I was already tired of the whole "Take this job and shove it!" type of films and Running was one of them. Michael Douglas, quits his job, wraps his tie around his head and goes out for a long run.Then he works his way up to the Olympic team.He falls during the Olympic marathon after stepping in a pot hole (yeah, there'd be one of those on the course!) and hobbles to the finish in darkness.END SPOILERI like fantasy. I like sports. I even run myself. I like rooting for real underdogs.This film just gave me the dry heaves.If you want to see a good film that revolves around running, check out Without Limits.Steve Prefontaine was both real and mystical. Most of all, he was nuts!

Okay, it's not the worst movie I've ever seen, but at least they tried, huh? Uneven writing, ridiculous plot, unconvincing acting, and not the best filmography either. But I do love Michael Douglas and if not for his being in the movie, I'm sure it would have never made it off the cutting floor. Oddly enough, he does portray the lead character precisely as it was written. Screwed up. Messed up. Aimless. Hapless. Hopeless. He's a walking thesaurus of 'loser'.The ending is horrible. Totally unbelievable and it misses the point. Finishing the competition was never his problem. Having the courage to start it was. I compare this to the mental challenge of diving off a diving board. Making the leap is difficult. Going the rest of the way down to the water is easy.

This was not a great movie but I enjoyed it. There are lots of running scenes. It is about a guy who has been a failure at everything all his life, including running, and who decides to do what he really wants to do, despite what everyone thinks. So he devotes himself to making the marathon team for the USA in the Olympics. It is uplifting. I found the ending kind of hoaky but all in all it was enjoyable. I taped it