Movies in Review: "Race"

Finally!!! Jesse Owens gets his story told. When I watched the trailer the hairs on my skin stood up. I think that had a lot to do with the song in the trailer, which added such power to the film. I have been looking forward to seeing this movie for months. I also loved that they cast a "new" face to play Owens. You guys may remember Stephan James from the movie Selma. His role was small in Selma, but I was excited to see what he would do in a lead role.

Stephan James was an excellent choice. He definitely had a strong performance and did Jesse Owens justice. I just wish the story was as strong as Jame's performance. Not to say the movie was bad, it just felt a little watered down. There wasn't enough power in the film. It felt like the light and fluffy version of Jesse Owens story.~shrugs. I guess they were trying to focus on his running, but giving hints of a deeper story with his family structure. I guess they didn't want to make the film too dark, but we all know the way Jesse was treated in the country he won 4 gold Olympic medals for was much grim. So I'm kind of on the fence of joy and anger for this one.

I very much enjoyed the film. It was great to hear the audience applaud Owens in the theater. I did also feel a little anger at how watered down the movie was, but that might be just me. I hope Mr. Owens was pleased with it...B+