Race Information

Race is a 2016 biographical sports drama film about African-American athlete Jesse Owens, who won a record-breaking four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Directed by Stephen Hopkins and written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, the film stars Stephan James as Owens, and co-stars Jason Sudeikis, Jeremy Irons, William Hurt and Carice van Houten. It is a co-production of Canada, Germany and France.

Principal photography began on July 24, 2014, in Montreal, Canada. Forecast Pictures, Solofilms, and Trinity Race produced the film, supported by the Owens family, the Jesse Owens Foundation, the Jesse Owens Trust and the Luminary Group. It won four Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Actor for James.

Plot

Jesse Owens, a promising black American runner, attends Ohio State University, despite facing racial discrimination and slurs from the white athletes. He attracts the attention of coach Larry Snyder, who believes Owens has enormous potential but needs work on his form and technique. When Snyder suggests he is good enough to compete at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, Owens is interested, but hesitant because of racial propaganda in Nazi Germany. The U.S. Olympic Committee is already considering boycotting the Olympics over Germany's discriminatory policies, only agreeing to participate when Nazi official Joseph Goebbels gives personal assurances they will allow foreign athletes of any race to compete, as well as promising to rein in their propaganda.

As Owens struggles to support his girlfriend Ruth and young daughter, he takes a job at a service station, upsetting Snyder when his job conflicts with his commitment to train. When Snyder learns Owens has a family to support, he gets him a no-show job, allowing him to focus on running. Owens goes on to break several records, including some of Snyder's, and begins a relationship with a woman whose attentions he attracts with his newfound fame. When Ruth threatens him with a lawsuit, Owens becomes distracted and loses a race to runner Eulace Peacock. Owens decides to return to Ruth to reconcile, convincing her to marry him. As the Olympics draw closer, the NAACP asks him not to go to Berlin for political reasons. Owens is conflicted, but Peacock urges him to compete to defy Nazi racial ideology.

In Berlin, Owens wins his first gold medal in the 100 m dash, but when he is brought by International Olympic Committee member Avery Brundage to receive congratulations from Adolf Hitler, he is told the Chancellor has left the stadium early to avoid traffic. Brundage warns Goebbels that Hitler must congratulate all winners or no winners, with Goebbels replying Hitler will not appear with "that". Owens next qualifies for the broad jump after German rival Luz Long unexpectedly gives him tips on his technique. Owens wins another medal, and Luz publicly shakes his hand and joins him for a victory lap, privately expressing concern about national politics. Owens wins his fourth and final medal in the 4 x 100 m relay, filling in for two Jewish American athletes cut by Brundage, who is convinced by Goebbels to do so to avoid a scandal over a business arrangement Brundage entered with the Nazis before the games. Director Leni Riefenstahl films the event against Goebbels' orders, then asks Owens to repeat his medal-winning broad jump to get a few more shots for her next film, Olympia.

Cast

• Stephan James as Jesse Owens
• Jason Sudeikis as Larry Snyder
• Jeremy Irons as Avery Brundage
• Carice van Houten as Leni Riefenstahl
• William Hurt as Jeremiah Mahoney
• Shanice Banton as Ruth Solomon-Owens
• Amanda Crew as Peggy
• Jeremy Ferdman as Marty Glickman
• Barnaby Metschurat as Joseph Goebbels
• Chantel Riley as Quincella
• David Kross as Carl "Luz" Long
• Glynn Turman as Harry Davis
• Jonathan Aris as Arthur Lill
• Shamier Anderson as Eulace Peacock
• Tony Curran as Lawson Robertson
• Nicholas Woodeson as Fred Rubien
• Giacomo Gianniotti as Sam Stoller
• Eli Goree as Dave Albritton
• Anthony Sherwood as Rev. Ernest Hall
• Jon McLaren as Trent
• Tim McInnerny as General Charles
• Vlasta Vrna as St. John
• Adrian Zwicker as Adolf Hitler
• Jonathan Higgins as Dean Cromwell

Production

Development

John Boyega was initially set to star as Owens; however, he eventually dropped out to star in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. and was subsequently replaced by Stephan James. German and Canadian distribution was handled by Squareone Entertainment and Entertainment One with Focus Features handling the distribution in the United States.

Filming

Principal photography started on July 24, 2014, in Montreal, and on location at Olympic Stadium in Berlin.

Release

On October 1, 2014, Focus Features originally set a release date for April 8, 2016. However, in August 2015, the release date was pushed up to February 19, 2016.

On February 15, an advanced screening was shown at Mershon Auditorium at Ohio State University, Owens' alma mater. Jesse Owens' two daughters and Stephan James were in attendance and addressed the crowd. The President of Ohio State, Michael V. Drake, also addressed the crowd and spoke briefly about Owens' global impact and life at Ohio State. It was released by Entertainment One in Canada, Focus Features in the United States on February 19, 2016, Eagle Pictures in Italy on March 31, 2016, and SquareOne Entertainment in Germany on May 5, 2016.

Reception

Box office

Race grossed $19.2 million in North America and $5.9 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $25.1 million.

In the United States and Canada, pre-release tracking suggested the film would gross $4-7 million from 2,369 theaters in its opening weekend, trailing fellow newcomer Risen ($7-12 million projection) but similar to The Witch ($5-7 million projection). It ended up grossing $7.4 million in its opening weekend, finishing in sixth at the box office.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 61% based on 138 reviews and an average rating of 6.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Race is nowhere near as thrillingly fleet or agile as its subject, but the story"?and a winning central performance from Stephan James"?are enough to carry it over the finish line". Metacritic reports a score of 56 out of 100 based on 35 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Accolades

Race received eight nominations, including Best Motion Picture, at the 5th Canadian Screen Awards.

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref(s)
Canadian Screen Awards	12 March 2017	Best Motion Picture	Louis-Philippe Rochon, Dominique Sguin, Jean-Charles Lvy and Luc Dayan
		Best Actor	Stephan James
		Best Art Direction / Production Design	David Brisbin, Isabelle Guay and Jean-Pierre Paquet
		Best Overall Sound	Claude La Haye, Luc Boudrias and Pierre-Jules Audet
		Best Sound Editing	Pierre-Jules Audet, Jrme Dcarie, Michelle Cloutier, Stan Sakell, Jean-Franois Sauv, Mathieu Beaudin, Franois Senneville, Luc Raymond and Jean-Philippe Saint-Laurent
		Best Costume Design	Mario Davignon
		Best Make-Up	Natalie Trpanier and Rjean Goderre
		Best Visual Effects	Martin Lipmann, Cynthia Mourou, Benot Touchette, Jonathan Pich-Delorme and Frdric Breault
Image Awards	11 February 2017	Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture	Stephan James
Prix Iris	4 June 2017	Best Art Direction	David Brisbin, Isabelle Guay and Jean-Pierre Paquet
		Best Sound	Pierre-Jules Audet, Luc Boudrias and Claude La Haye
		Best Visual Effects	Martin Lipmann, Cynthia Mourou and Benot Touchette
		Best Costumes	Mario Davignon
		Best Hairdressing	Rjean Goderre