Let me begin by saying this film is very much what you got
in the trailers; Shania Andrews (Lenora Crichlow) is a talented runner but when
she joins a squad of other skilled athletes she finds herself clashing with
Lisa Temple (Lily James) who has the support of her competitive father with his
money and influence. As you will see from the trailers the girls fight, make
some mistakes on the track, have some laughs and ultimately put aside their
different backgrounds to combine their talent and work together. There really
are no surprises in this film but that doesn’t necessarily make it a bad one.
I felt like the
audience was kind of thrown into the film at the beginning without much
explanation or back-story to build up a likeable character we can relate to but
that actually turned out to be ok. By revealing more about the character
slowly, by having her normal life happening around her rather than making a
point of side plots to do with family etc., it felt like the audience wasn’t
being treated as an idiot. The audience knows that there are going to be
stereotypes surrounding this character due to her race and economic background,
but they also know that the film isn’t trying to make a moral point on these
issues but is merely using these stereotypes to aid character development.
Other than
feeling a little ‘thrown in at the deep end’ to begin with, the pace of the
film was fine. In fact it was quite tight with every scene being vital to the
storyline, which was why the scenes of the girl’s night out was a bit of a
relief. The part in which they run down the road, high heels in one hand and
glittery purses in the other, laughing as the men chasing them quickly run out
of steam was probably my favourite part of the movie as it was one of the only
times I felt any sort of thrill. It was nice to see something that didn’t
wholly revolve around sports and was there to inject a little comedy into the
film.
The only other
time I felt any kind of strong emotion towards this film is when *SPOILER*
Trix Warren (Lorraine Burroughs) sustains a serious injury during her race for
the gold medal resulting in the end of her sports career. This was a very
clever side plot as it was subtly woven into the story in such a way that
because you hadn’t paid too much attention to it before, it kept you guessing
and I found that I didn’t know whether she was going to win or lose. A problem
with having given so much away of the main storyline was that it made the film
predictable; I knew that the girls were going to win in the end and so that
final race didn’t have the tension that it perhaps should have. A big part of
sports is being on the edge of your seat, your heart hammering as you wait with
eager anticipation for the elation of winning or the disappointment of losing
but here I knew the outcome and so felt no anticipation whatsoever.
However both Joey
and I did both enjoy the running scenes. Even though the races were
predictable, I found they weren’t boring me because of the way they were filmed
with 45-degree angles capturing the runner’s legs and the conventional use of
slow motion. It wasn't anything radically different but it looked good and kept
the audience entertained. I also liked the use of shots from the presses point
of view, especially in the final scene and of course the final shot of the
girls carrying the British flag links up nicely to similar scenes we will soon
be watching of the Olympics.
Overall there
was nothing really special about this film. It was well made and entertaining,
and perhaps a good way to wet your appetite for the Olympics but nothing more
than your average sports movie (Joey likened it to Goal!) We would rate it 3*
as it was well filmed, had a simple yet compelling storyline and interesting
three dimensional characters however it was lacking in emotional involvement. For
this film to be really great the audience needed to want the team to win so
that we experienced the same elation when they succeed, but as we were
expecting a win, this was not able to happen. I would recommend you see this
film but as Joey suggests, watch it on sky movies or rent it one night when you
feel like something good but simple.
