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Wonderful character development!

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Boring

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Terribly directed and acted family conflict drama that would be rightly and completely forgotten if it did not contain Brad Pitt in the cast. He is extremely callow and still has a lot to learn here but at least his bland performance can be put down to the fact that he was still a beginner. Rick Schroder on the other hand is too old to be believable as a high school student and is awful and overwrought. Carrie Snodgrass is okay as the mom, unlike the rest of the dreadful supporting cast, but the script really doesn't give her much too work with. Speaking of the script it is full of huge holes of plausibility and lacks any kind of common sense. To top it all off the score is full of horrid ersatz hard rock. Don't bother.

This is the most amazing movie in the world. Being a runner myself, this movie puts you into the emotional roller coaster that is high school running. There are many times when you feel like you will not or cannot accomplish the county championship but if you have someone like your brother to lean on then anything is possible. This movie has inspired me more than Chariots of Fire, PRE, and Without Limits combined. The acting and raw emotions that these characters experience will live on for ever. Where is the Academy Award for GREATEST FILM EVER MADE? By the way Pitt looks JACKED and he is the man in this move. Best performance of his life. PS if those are the standards to get into Standford then my whole XC team from junior year should be there. But that doesn't matter.

All the characters are cheap and hackneyed, from the concerned and confused, loving mother to the bad boy friend of the kid fresh from jail. Peer pressure, cod-psychology, simplistic relationships, poor characterisation, it's all here. It's not too offensive - what would one expect from a 1991 Ricky Schroeder/Brad Pitt film based around the adventures of two boys involved in running? A few "important" races, some shouting and a predictable yet ridiculously hole-ridden plot. Great stuff.

The snappiest thing about this film is the title. Two American teenage brothers, one a swat and a goody two shoes on the athletic track, and the other a rebellious delinquent (born on the wrong side of the tracks, get it?), end up at the same school after bad boy Billy (Rick Schroder) gets a second chance after a spell at a Borstal.Members of Billy's delinquent melee try to reclaim him for the bad side, but we all know that is not going to happen. Joe, the elder brother (Brad Pitt), is trying for a scholarship to a prestigious university by running a faster race than anyone else. This is where the story falls apart.Brad Pitt has by far the more convincing physique. Rick Schroder is good looking enough, provided he stops slicking his blond locks back with a cartload of grease, but he is no athlete. The clever cinematic device of dressing him in black shorts and shirt for the running sequences cannot hide the flab. The slow motion sections (a la Chariots of Fire) only accentuate this.Watch this if you want to see obviously twenty-something year olds trying to be school kids; if you enjoy folk belting round the running track; if you want to remind yourself of what Brad Pitt looked liked before he became a real actor.Two redeeming quotations from the film are "The only thing personal is the size of your d**k" and "I thought you were as straight as a virgin's d**k". Memorable because, as I remember, at the age the characters are supposed to be, these comments pepper every day conversation. That there are only two during the 1 hour 40 minutes is an indictment of authenticity.