MovieChat Forums > Without Limits (1998) Discussion > TERRIBLE: 'You don't have the guts to ca...

TERRIBLE: 'You don't have the guts to catch me!'

posted 15 years ago by qinkilla
11 replies | jump to latest

I saw this with some friends at a screening at the University of Miami when I was a student there. Robert Towne personally screened the movie at the Cosford Cinema on campus.

We laughed at parts that weren't supposed to be funny. Crudup did a great job, cause he's a talent..

One question we had after the film, since none of us were old enough or cared enough to know who Steve Prefontaine was before seeing the film, was this: We all thought that there was a homosexual relationship between the coach and the star runner. The movie would have made more sense. Sutherland seemed like he was in lust for Crudup the whole movie, especially when he was tying his shoes and looking up at him...

Also, the repeating quote: "You don't have the guts to catch me." which he said to his childhood bullies, has become an endless source of material over the past decade or so.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. I'm not bashing gay people - I have gay friends and I am extremely liberal in my thinking, but it did seem like that was going to be the point of the film (having not known anything about Prefontaine beforehand).

"YOU DON'T HAVE THE GUTS TO REPLY TO MY POST"

LOL

[–] pennylane288 15 years ago

Do you run yourself? I run XC and track and I completely understand the meaning of "You don't have the guts to catch me." I'm just asking because it seems like to someone who doesn't run, it wouldn't make much sense.

[–] qinkilla 15 years ago

Uh, yes, I do run. And the context in the movie wasn't about a race. It was about him running away from bullies. He didn't say that to fellow competitors - that I would have understood. He said that to bullies who were pounding the crap out of him. I wouldn't have said anything, I would have just run away if that was my best option. But saying "You don't have the guts to catch me" is pretty pathetic.

[–] mojopin1988 15 years ago

But that scene was just Bowerman's imagination of Pre's need to run. So it was all in his head of how he thought Steve might've been as a child. So him seeing the somewhat cocky runner now, would most likely assume that even as a child he talked like that.

[–] qinkilla 15 years ago

I can accept that, I guess. I still thought it was too much. The cockiness would have occurred (in my opinion) when he started running competitively and was really good at something besides getting the snot pounded out of him. I wasn't bullied all that much growing up, but I cannot say I was never bullied. I don't know. I just thought it was a pathetic take. I can understand the cockiness because all athletes - and in other professions - that are at the top of their game or field have to be somewhat cocky. Research proves this out (making excuses is a hallmark of top athletes believe it or not).

I just think it's a pathetic line, but I'm glad to get some feedback.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] aproue 15 years ago

Those are some of the things I didn't care for in this movie.... Sutherland sounded like a creep compared to Ermey in Prefontaine. And In Prefontaine, though I don't know if this is true, Most of Pre's peers from school really liked Pre because he would never give up despite being small and terrible at organized sports.

The you don't have the guts to catch me should never have been used in context of bullies chasing him, but instead being cocky to the competition cause hey Pre was definately a cocky SOB.

There's a bullet out there for everyone the trick is to die of old age before it finds you.

[–] blackhawkimdown 14 years ago

I took it as "I will run till I die, are you willing to run till you die to catch me?" No, because they don't got the guts

[–] PretoriaDZ 11 years ago

Strange how people view things. I thought that the relationship between Pre and the coach was very much played as a son looking for a father figure and Sutherland frustrated by his "son's" refusal to listen to his coaching advice. If the coach felt anything, it was envy at Pre's ability to run, which the coach did not have and knew how precious and rare it was.

[–] escalera-2 10 years ago

"A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more." -- Steve Prefontaine

"Please use elevator, stairs stuck between floors."

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] aaron_hallam61 10 years ago

There's nothing homosexual about the relationship between Pre and Bowerman as depicted in this film. They just have a lot in common and end up experiencing intense situations and emotions, "...like at the moment of deepest penetration..."