Dazzling, violent, star-driven thrill rides are routine. Finding an intelligent, well-written, old-fashioned movie-movie has become an event. Thus, it is a thrill to watch Without Limits.

| Original Score: A | Mar 25, 2020

| Original Score: A- | Sep 7, 2011

intelligent character study of a mythologized athlete

| Original Score: B | Jul 24, 2011

A brilliantly performed, gut-wrenchingly sad flick

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 3, 2009

Whether he would have won at the next Olympics, we'll never know. What we do know is that Towne, a man of ruefully romantic temperament, has found a soulmate in Steve Prefontaine.

| Aug 5, 2008

With a very good part for a change, Sutherland invests the imposing Bowerman with a host of subtly expressed attitudes toward his most illustrious charge.

Full Review | Aug 5, 2008

Except for a few lapses, co-scriptwriters Kenny Moore and Towne allow Pre's aura to remain undisturbed by overdramatization and psychological speculation.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 5, 2008

Prefontaine's infectious enthusiasm is ably conveyed, although the film might have been a stronger and less earnest effort if producer Tom Cruise had played a more active part.

| Aug 5, 2008

A couple of sterling lead performances by Billy Crudup and Donald Sutherland.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 14, 2007

he understated cinematography by Conrad Hall and sterling work from Crudup and Sutherland lend a patina of class, yet it's in the end a po-faced film.

| Jan 26, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 22, 2005

Without Limits wins as a sports film precisely because it's not really about sports or a great victory.

Full Review | Jul 21, 2005

Bland biopic about runners

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 26, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 10, 2004

Both Crudup and Sutherland deliver superb performances in the support of a thoughtful, committed, and richly visualized film.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Nov 7, 2002

Without Limits is an admirable departure from the norm, but its greatest strength doubles as an undermining weakness.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 12, 2002

Offers plenty of interesting insights into the beauty, the poetry, the drama, and the science of athletic competition.

| Mar 3, 2002

As Pre, Billy Crudup is dynamite -- a magnetic star presence who's unafraid to show how Pre's drive also makes him a bit of a prick.

Full Review | May 11, 2001

Towne's most important contribution, aside from his gift for structure and willingness to direct this story in a classic, straight-ahead manner, is the power of his words.

| Feb 14, 2001

A sturdy, hero-worshipping picture that underplays the boasting which made Pre less sympathetic in last year's version by Hollywood Pictures.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Jan 1, 2000