Efficient biopic from Stephen Hopkins, starring Stephan James as Olympian Jesse Owens.
As a primer on Owens’ life and achievements, the film works well enough. As a drama about race, politics, changing social attitudes and the winds of war, it is a non-starter.
Stephan James’s committed turn as Jesse Owens stops this grandstanding film about the 1936 Olympics from descending into cheesiness.
A biography of black American athlete Jesse Owens, covering his triumph at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, fails to do the story justice.
General release. Check local listings for show times.