The 1982 movie Personal Best didn't age well. It was ostensibly about elite women's track and field competition, but recently viewing it again makes it clear that the real focus was on women's bodies (plus a wee bit of male nudity). Athletes in Personal Best spend most of their time carousing, drinking, taking drugs, and fighting with one another. Actual competition is an excuse for artsy slow-motion rapid-cut photographic effects. Quite a contrast with the sports films Without Limits or The Long Run. Not even close to the documentaries Running on the Sun, A Race for the Soul, or The Runner.

^z - 2009-11-02