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Here's another movie I haven't seen yet but hope to catch this morning on tape for a later viewing. The 1997 movie is slated to air today, 12/27, at 4:30 a.m. EST.

Zap2It.com's description reads, "Olympic defeat matures a selfish distance runner into a sports activist before his 1975 death in a car crash." And MSCL's Jordan Catalano plays the title character, Steven Prefontaine.

Don't know where you are, but here in Markham, a suburb of Toronto (CANADA), I found a copy of Prefontaine at Musicworld on DVD for $5.99 (or just under $4 U.S.) last week. Haven't seen it yet, don't know if it's any good... but $6. Price is right.

If i can remember right there were two movies out at around the same time about Prefontaine.

I have seen the Leto one, and it wasn't bad. Not my cup of tea, but not a horrible movie watching experience.

If my memory isn't totally shot...the movie with Jared Leto was released first and for some reason, shortly thereafter Tom Cruise decided that movie didn't do the story justice so he "re-made" it. I like the movie. Not a real 5-star flick but I dig true stories. I also like the soundtrack. Forever Yound by the Pistoleros is way cool IMHO.

Thanx for the feedback, everyone. I haven't had a chance to watch this one yet, but I hope to in the next few days. I'll come back and report then. I figure anything with MSCL's Jordan Catalano in the title role is worth perusing, and your comments make it sound like that is indeed the case.

K-man wrote:If my memory isn't totally shot...the movie with Jared Leto was released first and for some reason, shortly thereafter Tom Cruise decided that movie didn't do the story justice so he "re-made" it. I like the movie. Not a real 5-star flick but I dig true stories. I also like the soundtrack. Forever Yound by the Pistoleros is way cool IMHO.

I'm pretty sure that the other Prefontaine had Billy Crudup in the title role. Never saw that one either, but it got good reviews. And Billy Crudup was great in Almost Famous, one of my favourite all-time music movies.

bdckr wrote: I'm pretty sure that the other Prefontaine had Billy Crudup in the title role. Never saw that one either, but it got good reviews. And Billy Crudup was great in Almost Famous, one of my favourite all-time music movies.

I might have to second that, I think it was Billy Crudup.

If you want to talk about Billy Crudup in a good role, it is all about Waking the Dead. He was great in that, as was Jennifer Connelly.

Billy Crudup's best performance -- no question -- was in Jesus' Son. I hate to use such a cliché, but it was "Oscar-worthy."

About a million years later, after going through some videotapes, I realized that RL prevented me from ever getting around to watch this movie. Thank goodness I realized it before accidentally taping over this.

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SPOILERS

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I know I'm biased, but I really enjoyed Jared's turn in this true story. Granted, it was a different look for him, but I found the movie quite interesting. And I thought Jared was quite believable as the underdog runner who won over the people. His performance in this flick only solidified for me how stellar his acting abilities really are.

Looking at the state of world affairs today, it was pretty scary to see what happened during the Olympics that Prefontaine attended. And it was sad to see Prefontaine never get a chance to best his biggest opponent, but at least he helped to change the state of his sport.

Useless Prefontaine trvia:

Jared's brother Shannon is in the movie...

Also, one of the crew members' name is George Catalano...

I've gotta agree that Jared Leto's performance in this movie upped my level of appreciation for the actor. He did a great job conveying Prefontaine. It was like watching the actual story unfold, instead of seeing an actor PRETENDING to be this person....

By the way, thank goodness it wasn't Tom Cruise who re did the movie. I don't enjoy him at all, I don't have the slightest clue WHY, but he's never really done anything for me.

Almost Famous is also one of my favorite movies of all time. Wonderfully acted, and GREAT script!!!!