Race takes too long to hit its stride

Twenty summer Olympiads ago, Jesse Owens sprinted and jumped to an historic four gold medals. The new biopic Race tracks Owens’ life in the three years leading up to his sensational performance in the 1936 Berlin games. Although worthwhile viewing, the film lacks the intensity due a story set in an era when deadly racial hostilities racked two continents.

The film opens in 1933, the year Hitler is appointed Germany’s chancellor and Owens (Stephan James) enrolls as a freshman at Ohio State University. In addition to taking classes, Owens runs for the university’s track team and works at a gas station to support his girlfriend, Ruth (Shanice Banton), and their young daughter.

Owens faces prejudice on and off campus. He must wait for an indignant all-white football team to shower before he can, and he sits in the “Coloreds” section at the back of a public bus. But Owens finds an ally—even a father figure—in his white track coach, Larry Snyder (Jason Sudeikis). Snyder fine tunes the gifted runner’s techniques and helps him learn to block out distractions—although not always successfully.

Distractions abound for the newly crowned “world’s fastest man,” whose mind-boggling athleticism brings constant press coverage and female admirers. In one meet during his sophomore year, Owens sets world records in three different events within the space of 45 minutes.

But domestic and international politics threaten to prevent Owens from competing in the Summer Olympics in Berlin. Amateur Athletic Union members (Jeremy Irons and William Hurt) argue the merits of withdrawing the United States from the games. And some African-American community leaders push Owens to “strike a blow” by skipping the Olympics—a move to “show solidarity with the oppressed people of Germany” and draw attention to discrimination at home. The even-tempered Owens, who just wants to marry Ruth, seems to deal easily with the pressure.

When Owens arrives in Berlin, the film’s energy picks up a little. To the dismay of Nazi officials, German track star Luz Long befriends Owens, and propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels’ filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl, showcases Owens along with Aryan athletes.

Two of Owens’ daughters were “very involved” with the film’s script, ensuring an authentic biography of a very down-to-earth man. James and Banton give solid performances, but Sudeikis and some supporting cast members aren’t always convincing.

A good movie, Race (rated PG-13 for thematic elements and language) nevertheless is rarely gripping. The film seems to downplay the racial animosity, often depicting bigots and Nazis as not much worse than cold-hearted snobs. Viewers get two very brief glimpses of Jews pushed out a door or into a truck. And after Berlin, Mr. and Mrs. Owens attend an event in his honor held at a swanky New York City hotel, where the hero and his wife are forced to use the service entrance. The congenial Owens obliges, signs an autograph in the kitchen, and the credits roll.

It seems Owens endured the mistreatment he suffered better than many viewers would.