Hey fellow UNDERDOGS!!! This week we welcome the uplifting perspective of Caless Davis (Twitter, Instagram, & Letterboxd) from the supremely awesome Feelin' Film crew! Caless joins us for an exciting discussion on Without Limits: an insanely underrated mega-box-office bomb / heartfelt biopic about the one and only Steve Prefontaine. Produced by Tom Cruise, directed by Robert Towne, and featuring a pair of ultra-game performances by the ever elegant Donald Sutherland as Bill Bowerman (yes, that guy that co-founded Nike) and always handsome Billy Crudup as Prefontaine (a runner of headstrong zealousness and undiluted passions), Without Limits is, like Whiplash, a film about two ego-centric / steadfast personalities (pupil & mentor, student & coach) colliding head-on.
Exploring complex binaries and philosophical quagmires, Without Limits gives the viewer no easy answers. It leaves you wondering what is superior: Competing with blunt conviction or tactical strategy? Seeking a canny athletic advantage or ardent-hearted performative aesthetics? While dabbling in these complex existential predicaments, the audience is treated with nuanced insights about the subtle technicalities of track & field — learning about the pitfalls of front-running and the difference a mere ounce on a pair of sneakers can make in the grand scheme of a race. There are also sporadic gags throughout. From Bowerman pressing running shoes on a waffle iron and making tenuous correlations between hair length and natural masculine endowments, to Prefontaine handing out Adidas to groupies, the film intermittently exudes a silly sense of 90s humor, and even shoehorns a romantic subplot in there, too.
All said, Without Limits is a thought provoking and entertaining, but still just slightly above average 1998 sports drama. Sloppily edited, shaggily paced, and fairly formulaic, isn't a masterpiece by any stretch. It is just a solid story about a nonpareil track star and his clever coach. Sadly, despite these winning attributes (and Ethan Hunt himself contributing behind the scenes, in-between takes on Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut), it somehow got lost in the late '90s mix (going up against the likes of How Stella Got Her Groove Back, There's Something About Mary, and Saving Private Ryan, just to name a few).
Eclipsed by its box office nemeses, Without Limits made a paltry 700k back on its 25mil dollar production and has sat on dusty shelves for over two decades since it’s release — unseen by multitudes of worthy specimens. It still metaphorically sits there, lost and forlorn like a sad puppy. Until now that is!!! And thus, without further ado, we bring you the latest and greatest (they're all the greatest) Cinematic Underdogs episode... WITHOUT LIMITS!!! (Cue pump-up sports music: "Are you ready to rumble....duh duh du duh duh duh duh").
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