Movieo
Poster for Race

Race

The incredible true story of gold medal champion Jesse Owens

2016 · 2h 14m · PG-13 Drama, History
Directed by Stephen Hopkins

Seen it?

Overview

Based on the story of Jesse Owens, the athlete whose quest to become the greatest track and field athlete in history thrusts him onto the world stage of the 1936 Olympics, where he faces off against Adolf Hitler's vision of Aryan supremacy.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
60%
Tomatometer
Fresh

A glossy, superficial biopic set in a historical context that begs for more, Race can at least claim to be one of the two best movies ever made about Olympic hero/Hitler-embarrasser Jesse Owens.

Jim Slotek, Toronto Sun
Fresh

A wallpaper-thin but sentimentally effective hagiography.

Richard Brody, New Yorker
Rotten

The bare necessities are there, the performances are competent, and there are some strong moments but Race suffers from a lack of ambition. It's too safe and that quality mutes its impact and limits its ability to be more than a history lesson.

James Berardinelli, ReelViews
Rotten

Race is the most timid, lackadaisical movie that could have been made out of potentially classic material.

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out
Rotten

Where is Owens in all of this? By the end of Race, we don't know much more about him as an individual than we did when the movie began.

Stephanie Zacharek, TIME Magazine

Comments

Talk about the film with other members

More films