My Grading System

A+ = Masterpiece (I hold back on this one.) / A = Great. / A- = Really Good. / B+ = Good. / B = Decent (Serviceable). / B- = Flawed but okay (For those times there's something redeeming about the work). / C+ = Not very good (Skip it). C = Bad. / C- = Awful. / F = Complete Disaster (I hold back on this one too).

Note on Spoilers: I will try to avoid ruining a story by going into too much detail. But if I wish to include some revealing points to my analysis I will try to remember to add a separate spoiler paragraph.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner (1962)

For me this is Tom Courtenay's best performance.  Of course he's great in Billy Liar made a year later but the depth of character here ,as Smith, here really resonates.  Tony Richardson directs this sort-of British version of A Rebel without a Cause.  Told in flash backs, we learn the reason why Smith was sent away from home to do time at a Prison School for Teens.  The Head Master sees that he has a real talent as a long distance runner and starts to pressure him to win a big race against a visiting school.  Yet Smith is conflicted by his desire to live life by his rules and by those rules that might lead him to respectability.   A really enjoyable film.  Grade: B+.
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