Review of Race, directed by Stephen Hopkins

As I’ve written in several other blog posts in the past few months, I’ve been on such a World War kick. I’ve been loving literature and films set during the period, as well as nonfiction digging deeper into certain areas and the impacts of war.

Now Race is a movie I had no idea existed out in the world, but when I was bored one day and scrolling through Netflix, I played the game where I close my eyes and watch the first thing that I land on when I end up opening them.

It was Race, which I suspect appeared in my suggested because I was watching Unbroken a couple of days before.

Fascinating to compare the same two movies, because the protagonist of Unbroken is also a real-life Olympian who was in Germany at the same time as Jesse Owens: Louie Zamperini. And maybe that’s why I didn’t skip over it and play the game again.

I ended up sitting down and watching the movie in its entirety as I was on break from work, and I didn’t hate it. Biopics can be pretty polarizing, but this one wasn’t terrible.

Let’s get into the review.

Racing is the story of Jesse Owens and his rise to Olympic glory.

Some may know the name of Jesse Owens: a Black American who was brought to the Olympics and won several medals, supposedly infuriating the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler because the Olympics were held in Nazi Germany. This was right before the full-on outbreak of World War II in Europe.

But before we get to that point in the film, we have to go back to how Jesse Owens ended up at the Olympics. In 1933, he was racing at Ohio State University, despite the vast amount of discrimination he faces in his everyday life. We see that immediately, even if you are not familiar with the history.

His coach firmly believes that Owens can end up at the Olympics with his skills, but he’s not there yet. Owens is somewhat interested in going to the Olympics, but shows some hesitancy because he is a Black American about to venture to Nazi Germany if that’s the case.

There’s also the question at this point whether the United States will even go to the Olympics. We cut to Joseph Goebbels at some point in the beginning of the movie and how he reluctantly agrees to allow any race to compete.

But back in the United States, Owens get a job, a girlfriend, and a daughter. His coach gets upset because he thinks this is going to detract from Owens’ running and his chances at the Olympics. His coach doesn’t know Owens has a child at this point, but when he realizes that, he gets the kid a job where he doesn’t actually have to go.

But the fame gets to Owens’ head already and he starts seeing other girls, which naturally upsets his girlfriend Ruth. She is very upset to the point where she threatens a lawsuit against him.

Owens loses a race, which puts him into his place. He gets back with his girlfriend, asks her to marry him. For some reason, she says yes (kudos to her, I still would’ve been pissed). Despite Black organizations warning Owens about the situation in Germany, he still ends up going. That’s the final part of the movie—how Owens defeats the odds.

Despite all this tension about Nazi Germany, we only get peeks of it through the camera cutting to the faces of the officials. There’s some talk about how Hitler left the stadium, and when it’s Jesse’s turn to go for the long jump, he makes buddies with the German champion, Lutz Long.

Jesse is about to strike out and not qualify, but Long tells him where to jump, allowing Owens to qualify. The two strike up a friendship where Long discusses how he doesn’t approve of Germany’s beliefs at the moment.

We also get cuts to film director Leni Riefenstahl, who’s a fascinating figure in Nazi Germany. Her work is cutting edge, especially what she did at this Olympics, but she ended up screwing herself over because she essentially made propaganda for the losing side after the war.

The final race for Team USA is coming up, and the coach, having been pressured by higher ups, takes off the two Jewish members of the team. With some fighting, Owens agrees to take one of their spaces, and the team ends up winning easily.

When Owens returns home, he is sent through the colored entrance, despite the celebration being for him, going back to the unfortunate reality for many African Americans during the period.

Overall Thoughts

It was an interesting movie, especially if you’re into history. There’s a mix of everything: sports, racial equity, the state of the US and Nazi Germany culturally during this time. I think if you’re not into history, though, you’re not going to be getting through this one.

It might become more a snoozefest because there isn’t much conflict outside of those broader historical themes. I hope it does get more people interested in Jesse Owens and his legacy, especially considering I feel like he’s more of an afterthought nowadays.

So, at the end of the day, the movie is just okay. It’s not great, but it’s not bad.

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