The Sochi Olympics Opening Ceremony is today and for the next two-and-a-half weeks, athletes who’ve spent years training will compete for an Olympic medal. To get there, they’ve sacrificed and so have their families. Imagine being the brother or sister who didn’t get the focus or attention of the family or who was asked to move or live without a parent so their sibling could be near the best coaches and training facilities? When those athletes compete, it’s not just for themselves, but for their families, their communities, their coaches, their team, and their country. It’s dramatic, it’s tense, it’s the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. In other words, all the elements of a great movie. There have been a lot of Olympic movies. My favorite is WALK DON’T RUN, set at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics with Cary Grant in his last film, Jim Hutton, and Samantha Eggar. The city is over crowded and the men rent the sitting room in a young English woman’s tiny apartment. Jim Hutton is competing in speed walking and Cary Grant plays matchmaker. Hilarity ensues.
CUTTING EDGE is another movie with an Olympic theme, along with COOL RUNNINGS, CHARIOTS OF FIRE, MIRACLE and MUNICH.
What’s your favorite Olympic movie?
