Chariots of Fire

Rating

Director

Hugh Hudson

Screenplay

Colin Welland

Length

123 min.

Starring

Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Havers, Ian Charleson, Ben Cross, Daniel Gerroll, Ian Holm, Sir John Gielgud, Lindsay Anderson, Nigel Davenport, Cheryl Campbell, Alice Krige, Dennis Christopher, Brad Davis, Patrick Magee, Peter Egan, Struan Rodger, David Yelland, Yves Beneyton

MPAA Rating

PG

Review

Not all true stories are engaging and befitting a motion picture. Chariots of Fire finds one such event and drags it to two hours in length.

The event in question is the Olympic games of 1924. The British track and field team is preparing to head to Paris and bring home medals for their country. Among the athletes competing for the gold are an odd collection of people, few of whom actually get any development. The chief rivals of the picture are Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson) and Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross).

Harold wants to be the fastest man in the world, but must outpace Liddell for that title. Abrahams trains heavily, even going against the will of his college, Cambridge, to hire an outside trainer named Sam Mussabini (Ian Holm). His hopes are dashed when he competes against Liddell around the film’s half way mark and loses because he looked sideways. This one event pushes Abrahams to become the better athlete.

Liddell’s personal goal is not to beat the young Jewish sprinter but to praise God through the gift he believes he was given. He tours around the country giving speeches that worshipping God is using the gifts he gives to you. His rather lackluster field sermons serve little purpose than to establish his character as a passionate, driven man. This is even further exemplified through his marital troubles stemming from his obsession with running.

With a cast largely unimpressive, director Hugh Hudson keeps the audience in most mind-numbing contemplation for the film. There are no grand moments that celebrate the human condition. Even the film’s grand Olympic finish is filled with little more fanfare than a dog show.

The film’s only standout among the cast is Ian Holm who was the film’s sole acting Oscar nominee. The film won Best Picture, though why is unfathomable. Chariots of Fire isn’t the kind of film the Academy tends to choose and it is intensely disappointing considering the film classics (or at least legends) it was nominated against. Reds, Atlantic City, On Golden Pond and Raiders of the Lost Ark may just have split most of the impassioned voters leaving the tiny little film Chariots taking the top prize.

The film’s music, composed by the legendary Vangelis, is superb, though completely unbecoming the film. Set in the 1920s, most of the music feels like new wave 1980s. Something more passionate or demure may have been more fitting. A classical composer may have been a more suited choice.

The film is firm in its ideals. Each of these athletes is driven to succeed, even though for different reasons. Some want to prove themselves to the people who put them down, some to celebrate the gifts of god and others seem like they are just doing it to keep from being bored. Whatever the reason these men do what they do, we admire their perseverance, we just can’t admire their rendering.

Review Written

December 19, 2006