The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) Reviews

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)
Member Rating:  
One of the key "angry young man" films which helped define the British "Kitchen Sink Drama" style of the late 1950's and early 60's, this story centers on Colin Smith (Tom Courtenay), a bitter young man from a working-class family. Uninterested in school and determined not to follow his father into factory work, Colin and his friend Mike (James Bolam) make their pocket money through petty crime, until they're arrested after the robbery of a baker's shop and sentenced to Borstal (British reform school). The Governor of the school (Michael Redgrave) takes a keen interest in Colin, but he cares less for his rehabilitation than his gifts as a broken-field runner; Colin finds himself torn between the need to please his captors and his determination not to play along with what he sees as a corrupt system. The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner was the first film for Courtenay, whose performance earned him the "Most Promising Newcomer" prize at the 1962 British Film Academy awards. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Tom Courtenay, Michael Redgrave, (more)
Director(s):
Tony Richardson
Format(s):
DVD
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Average Ratings

(9 member reviews)  

Member Reviews

Cary B.

An very interesting little film with a good human interest component. I watched it with subtitles and had no problem following the action.

Yes   |   No


Andy Y.

Between poor sound quality and thick English accents, I had to turn on the subtitles to understand anything!! Besides that, I just didn't care for this movie. I really do love a lot of old films from the 60s as well as foreign films, but this 60s British film just didn't keep my interest and felt like it would never end.

Yes   |   No


Nan L.

A working-class guy named Colin is sent to a reformatory for theft, and gets a chance to improve his lot by winning a race for his governor. As depressing as his past and present stories were, I felt really pulled into them, thanks to Tom Courtenay as the understandably angry Colin. Cool jazz trumpet during the running scenes. Look for a young James Fox as his competition in the final race.

Yes   |   No


Miriam H.

I don't know what I was expecting from this movie that I have heard about for decades. It had my full attention from beginning to end and was much more than I bargained for - more substance, less art. Although there's nothing wrong with art...

Yes   |   No


Remo C.

dont bother....terrible piece- mealed story. Remo

Yes   |   No


Marc L.

Old British films are known for bad sound quality. That's just the way it is. As a fan of British films, I looked forward to seeing this movie. While it was interesting, it was disappointing.

Yes   |   No


Susan C.

It's old. It's black and white. It's weird. It's boring. Am I an idiot? No. I appreciate quality. This movie was just goofy. Incredibly dull.

Yes   |   No


Gus H.

Love my new subscription with Blockbuster. As far as this movie is concerned all copies should be sent to a local garage sale, they should then be sold at 25 cents, the dvd jacket kept for storage of other DVD'S and the movie thrown into the garbage can. And so forth and so on.

Yes   |   No


Raymond B.

I watched this movie because it had a 4 1/2 star rating. The sound quality was not good and the accents made it very hard to understand. Not much of a storyline and definately not one I would recommend. I would rate this movie 2 stars.

Yes   |   No


 
 
 

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    Member Reviews
    Read all (9)
     
    Cary B.

    An very interesting little film with a good human interest component. I watched it with subtitles and had no problem following the action.

    Yes   |   No

     
    Andy Y.

    Between poor sound quality and thick English accents, I had to turn on the subtitles to understand anything!! Besides that, I just didn't care for this movie. I really do love a lot of old films from the 60s as well as foreign films, but this 60s British film just didn't keep my interest and felt like it would never end.

    Yes   |   No

     
    Nan L.

    A working-class guy named Colin is sent to a reformatory for theft, and gets a chance to improve his lot by winning a race for his governor. As depressing as his past and present stories were, I felt really pulled into them, thanks to Tom Courtenay as the understandably angry Colin. Cool jazz trumpet during the running scenes. Look for a young James Fox as his competition in the final race.

    Yes   |   No

     
    Read All 9 Reviews
       

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