''Without Limits'' is a 1998 American biographical

sports film A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport, sporting event, athlete (and their sport), or follower of sport (and the sp ...

. It is written and directed by

Robert Towne Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz;'' Easy Riders, Raging Bulls'' by Peter Biskind page 30, 1999 Bloomsbury edition November 23, 1934) is an American screenwriter, producer, director and actor. He started with writing films for Roger C ...

and follows the relationship between record-breaking distance runner

Steve Prefontaine Steve Roland "Pre" Prefontaine (January 25, 1951 – May 30, 1975) was an American long-distance runner who from 1973 to 1975 set American records at every distance from 2,000 to 10,000 meters. He competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics, and ...

and his coach

Bill Bowerman William Jay Bowerman (February 19, 1911 – December 24, 1999) was an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike, Inc. Over his career, he trained 31 Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans, 12 American record-holders, 22 NCAA champ ...

, who later co-founded Nike, Inc.

Billy Crudup William Gaither Crudup (; born July 8, 1968) is an American actor. He is a four-time Tony Award nominee, winning once for his performance in Tom Stoppard's play '' The Coast of Utopia'' in 2007. He has starred in numerous high-profile films, in ...

plays Prefontaine and

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films '' Citizen X'' (1995) a ...

plays Bowerman. It also stars

Monica Potter Monica Gregg Potter (née Brokaw; born June 30, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles in the films ''Con Air'' (1997), ''Patch Adams'' (1998), and '' Along Came a Spider'' (2001). She also appeared in the horror films ...

Jeremy Sisto Jeremy Merton Sisto (born October 6, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Billy Chenowith in HBO's '' Six Feet Under'', NYPD Detective Cyrus Lupo in NBC's ''Law & Order'', George Altman in the ABC sitcom '' Suburgatory'', ...

Judith Ivey Judith Lee Ivey (born September 4, 1951) is an American actress and theatre director. She has twice won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play: for '' Steaming'' (1981) and '' Hurlyburly'' (1984). She has also appeared in several fil ...

Matthew Lillard Matthew Lyn Lillard (born January 24, 1970) is an American actor. His early film work includes Chip Sutphin in ''Serial Mom'' (1994), Emmanuel "Cereal Killer" Goldstein in '' Hackers'' (1995), Stu Macher in '' Scream'' (1996), Stevo in '' SLC P ...

and William Mapother. The film was produced by

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...

(Cruise and Mapother are cousins) and Paula Wagner, and released and distributed by Warner Bros. Due to a very low-key promotional campaign, the $25 million film grossed only $777,000 at the box office, although it received good reviews from many major critics. Sutherland received a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film.

Cast

as Mary Marckx *

Frank Shorter Frank Charles Shorter (born October 31, 1947) is an American former long-distance runner who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. His Olympic success, along with the a ...

as Barbara Bowerman *

Dean Norris Dean Joseph Norris (born April 8, 1963) is an American actor. He is best known for playing DEA agent Hank Schrader on the AMC series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and its spin-off ''Better Call Saul'' (2020). He also portrayed town council ...

as Bill Dellinger * Billy Burke as Kenny Moore *

as Fred Long *

as Roscoe Devine * William Mapother as Bob Peters * Amy Jo Johnson as Iowa's Finest * Lisa Banes as Elfriede Prefontaine *

William Friedkin William "Billy" Friedkin (born August 29, 1935)Biskind, p. 200. is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter closely identified with the " New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in ...

as TV Director * Erich Anderson as Collin Pounder

Production

Development

20 years prior to the film's release, Kenny Moore, a friend of late Steve Prefontaine, approached

with the intention of making a film about Prefontaine but Towne was unavailable at the time. Three years later, the two worked together on the film ''

Personal Best A personal record or personal best (abbreviated to PR or PB) is an individual's best performance in a given sporting discipline. It is most commonly found in athletic sports, such as track and field, other forms of running, swimming and weightlift ...

'' and they again explored the idea. In 1994, the two met and Moore began writing a script for Towne to direct. Mary Marckx, Prefontaine's former girlfriend and friend of Moore, gave Towne over 200 personal letters written by Prefontaine, which provided an insight into his thoughts and she also shared information on the relationship he had with his mother. Explaining how Tom Cruise got involved in the project, Moore said:

Casting

Towne originally envisioned Cruise in the role of Prefontaine, but it was decided he was too old. For the role, Billy Crudup who had been a college athlete trained for four months with

Patrice Donnelly Patrice Michelle "Pat" Donnelly (born April 30, 1950) is an American retired track and field athlete and actress, known primarily for hurdling. Background Donnelly was born in San Diego, California. She attended Grossmont College. She was a hig ...

(she starred in ''Personal Best'') to run short distances as he was expected to run 110 to 200 yards for a 5,000 meter race sequence. He also watched actual footage of Prefontaine to imitate his moves.

Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' T ...

Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...

and

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' D ...

were considered for the part of Bowerman but they all turned it down and Donald Sutherland eventually landed the role. Monica Potter played the role of Prefontaine's girlfriend and spent a lot of time with Mary Marckx to prepare for the part.

Filming

The film was shot on location in

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

using the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

Hayward Field Hayward Field is a track and field stadium in the Northwestern United States, northwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. It has been the home of the university's Oregon Ducks track and field, t ...

. Scenes were also filmed at Heceta Beach, Oregon.

's house served as a shooting location. After two months of filming in Oregon, the production moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

to film the Munich sequences at Citrus College. Some visuals of the Munich Olympics came from the documentary ''

Visions of Eight ''Visions of Eight'' is a 1973 American documentary film offering a stylized look at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Produced by Stan Margulies and executive produced by David L. Wolper, it was directed by eight directors. It was screened out-of-compe ...

'':

Reception

''Without Limits'' met with positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds a 79% "fresh" approval rating with an average score of 6.6/10, based on 38 reviews. The website's consensus reads: "This drama about American track star and hero Steve Prefontaine intelligently looks at the character of this oft mythologized athlete and features a fantastic performance by Donald Sutherland as Prefontaine's trainer."

References

External links

* {{Tom Cruise (actor) 1990s English-language films 1990s sports films 1990s biographical drama films American biographical drama films Films set in the 1960s Films set in the 1970s American track and field films Biographical films about sportspeople Biographical films about educators Cultural depictions of track and field athletes Cultural depictions of American men Films about the 1972 Summer Olympics Films about Olympic track and field Sports films based on actual events Films set in Oregon Films shot in Oregon Films shot in Eugene, Oregon Films shot in Los Angeles Films directed by Robert Towne Cruise/Wagner Productions films Warner Bros. films Films with screenplays by Robert Towne Films produced by Tom Cruise 1998 drama films 1998 films 1990s American films