“Saint Ralph” … love and guts.
I’ll admit I’m a geek when it comes to cheesy sports movies. As a kid, I loved Robbie Benson in One-on-One, I laughed at the Bad News Bears, I couldn’t wait for Rocky 2,3,4, and 5 to come out (is there really going to be a Rocky 6?!), and I still cry whenever I hear the theme music from Brian’s Song. Two summers ago, I made my daughters watch all four of The Karate Kid movies and confessed to my 12 year-old that I once wrote Ralph Machio a fan letter - he never wrote back.
When I grew up to become a runner and a coach, I watched movies-with-jocks like some junkie needing an inspiration drug. I rented any video I could find that had the struggling-athlete theme: Bang the Drum Slowly, Running Brave (of course, another Robbie Benson gem!), Breaking Away, Hoosiers, Hoop Dreams, Chariots of Fire, On the Waterfront, a Carolina Women’s Soccer documentary, all the Pre movies, Bud Greenspan Olympic films, The Arthur Ashe story, A Sebastian Coe training video (I played the scene with his road 800’s, while his father/coach followed in the car - “Are you ready, Seb?!” - over and over and over), Children of Heaven, Endurance, Bull Durham, The Natural, and - recently - Million Dollar Baby, etc.!
My all-time favorite sports movie, National Velvet (a black & white classic with Elizabeth Taylor and Micky Rooney) became a litmus test for athletes I coached. If you “got it,” I knew we would have a successful coach/athlete relationship; if not, not. For me, NO movie has ever matched Velvet’s blend of intensity and sensitivity …its love and guts. You need BOTH to be great. You must love your sport (or in Velvet’s case, your horse :))with all your heart and you must have the guts to follow your heart. No movie has ever measured up to National Velvet . . . until now.
Run, do not walk, do not pass GO, to your nearest video store and rent Saint Ralph. I give it 5 stars and two fists … one fist for the triumphant punch of victory and another for the fist I cried into because it was so beautiful. So beautiful.
p.s.
Cool website for running movies:
http://www.runningmovies.com/feature.htm
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Joan and Dave, watch the movie 5000 meters. Inspiring in some parts, but just an entertaining doc. Jason has it. Take care back there. Oh yah Karate Kid is the best!!!
“Mercy is for the weak! We do not train to be merciful here! When you confront a man on the street he is your enemy, an enemy deserves no mercy!”
Saint
Comment by Saint — 1/13/2006 @ 2:05 pm
I’ve been waiting for this movie to pop up on our collective runners’ radars! I saw it at the DC film festival a year ago and couldn’t BELIEVE that it wasn’t out in regular theaters. At the time I was training for a half-marathon, and I left the theater so motivated that I would have run home if I wasn’t wearing high heels. (And I considered it anyway, but decided DC streets were too gross.) Hats off to the kid who plays Ralph–he did an amazing job for a young actor.
There’s a scene near the end of the movie where Ralph is doing a workout at night. Mile repeats, I think. And near the end he manages to convey that feeling I get, not nearly often enough, where I feel at one with my body and feel like I could go on forever–flying. Just one of a bunch of great scenes.
I agree with you Joan–a must rent. If not buy…
Comment by Amy — 1/24/2006 @ 10:54 am
It’s a buy.
Joan, thanks for pointing me at this one. It motivated and inspired - and delighted - us.
Comment by Fat Charlie the Archangel — 2/28/2006 @ 11:02 am