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Race (2016 film)

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox film

| name = Race

| image = Race 2016 film poster.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Stephen Hopkins

| producer =

| writer =

| starring =

| music = Rachel Portman

| cinematography = Peter Levy

| editing = John Smith

| production_companies =

| distributor =

| released =

| runtime = 135 minutes

| country =

| language = English
German

| budget = $5 million

| gross = $25.1 million

}}

'Race' is a 2016 biographical sports drama film about African-American athlete Jesse Owens, who won a record-breaking four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Directed by Stephen Hopkins and written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, the film stars Stephan James as Owens, and co-stars Jason Sudeikis, Jeremy Irons, William Hurt and Carice van Houten. It is a co-production of Canada, Germany and France.

Principal photography began on 24 July 2014, in Montreal, Canada. Forecast Pictures, Solofilms and Trinity Race produced the film, supported by the Owens family, the Jesse Owens Foundation, the Jesse Owens Trust and the Luminary Group. The film was a commercial success and received mixed to positive reviews, winning four Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Actor for James.

Plot



Jesse Owens, a promising Black American runner, attends Ohio State University, despite facing racial discrimination and slurs from the White athletes. He attracts the attention of coach Larry Snyder, who believes Owens has enormous potential but needs work on his form and technique. When Snyder suggests he is good enough to compete at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, Owens is interested, but hesitant because of racial propaganda in Nazi Germany. The U.S. Olympic Committee is already considering boycotting the Olympics over Germany's discriminatory policies, only agreeing to participate when Nazi official Joseph Goebbels gives personal assurances they will allow foreign athletes of any race to compete, as well as promising to rein in their propaganda.

As Owens struggles to support his girlfriend Ruth and young daughter, he takes a job at a service station, upsetting Snyder when his job conflicts with his commitment to train. When Snyder learns Owens has a family to support, he gets him a no-show job, allowing him to focus on running. Owens goes on to break several records, including some of Snyder's, and begins a relationship with a woman whose attentions he attracts with his newfound fame. When Ruth threatens him with a lawsuit, Owens becomes distracted and loses a race to runner Eulace Peacock. Owens decides to return to Ruth to reconcile, convincing her to marry him. As the Olympics draw closer, the NAACP asks him not to go to Berlin for political reasons. Owens is conflicted, but Peacock urges him to compete to defy Nazi racial ideology.

In Berlin, Owens wins his first gold medal in the 100 m dash, but when he is brought by International Olympic Committee member Avery Brundage to receive congratulations from Adolf Hitler, he is told the Chancellor has left the stadium early to avoid traffic. Brundage warns Goebbels that Hitler must congratulate all winners or none of them, to which Goebbels reply that Hitler will not appear with "that".

Owens next qualifies for the broad jump after German rival Luz Long unexpectedly gives him tips on his technique. Owens wins another medal, and Luz publicly shakes his hand and joins him for a victory lap, privately expressing concern about national politics. Owens wins his fourth and final medal in the 4 x 100 m relay, filling in for two Jewish American athletes cut by Brundage, who is convinced by Goebbels to do so to avoid a scandal over a business arrangement Brundage entered with the Nazis before the games. Director Leni Riefenstahl films the event against Goebbels' orders, then asks Owens to repeat his medal-winning broad jump to get a few more shots for her next film, 'Olympia'.

Cast



Production



Development

John Boyega was initially set to star as Owens; however, he eventually dropped out to star in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'. and was subsequently replaced by Stephan James. German and Canadian distribution was handled by Squareone Entertainment and Entertainment One with Focus Features handling the distribution in the United States.

Filming

in Berlin.

Principal photography started on 24 July 2014, in Montreal, and on location at Olympic Stadium in Berlin.

Release



On October 1, 2014, Focus Features originally set a release date for April 8, 2016. However, in August 2015, the release date was pushed up to February 19, 2016.

On February 15, an advanced screening was shown at Mershon Auditorium at Ohio State University, Owens' alma mater. Jesse Owens' two daughters and Stephan James were in attendance and addressed the crowd. The President of Ohio State, Michael V. Drake, also addressed the crowd and spoke briefly about Owens' global impact and life at Ohio State. It was released by Entertainment One in Canada, Focus Features in the United States on 19 February 2016, Eagle Pictures in Italy on 31 March 2016, and SquareOne Entertainment in Germany on 5 May 2016.

Reception



Box office

'Race' grossed $19.2 million in North America and $5.9 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $25.1 million.

In the United States and Canada, pre-release tracking suggested the film would gross $47 million from 2,369 theaters in its opening weekend, trailing fellow newcomer 'Risen' ($712 million projection) but similar to 'The Witch' ($57 million projection). It ended up grossing $7.4 million in its opening weekend, finishing in sixth at the box office.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, as of November 2021, the film has an approval rating of 63% based on 162 reviews, and an average rating of 6.10/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "'Race' is nowhere near as thrillingly fleet or agile as its subject, but the storyand a winning central performance from Stephan Jamesare enough to carry it over the finish line." As of August 2020, Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Accolades

'Race' received eight nominations, including Best Motion Picture, at the 5th Canadian Screen Awards.

References




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