Steve Prefontaine (Billy Crudup) gains success as a high school cross country runner in Oregon. He obsessively trains and is the best around. Roscoe Devine (Matthew Lillard) and Kenny Moore (Billy Burke) become his running mates. He gets into University of Oregon coached by Bill Bowerman (Donald Sutherland) and Bill Dellinger (Dean Norris). They would even make their own running shoes. Steve has plenty of female admirers and starts dating Mary Marckx (Monica Potter). Frank Shorter (Jeremy Sisto) is a rival and later training partner. This is a solid biopic with good performances. The races are well-filmed. It's a fascinating driven life. The most interesting for me is Bowerman making the shoes at home. I would have loved to have Phil Knight in this somewhere. Although I'm sure he would have sued the filmmakers to kingdom hell. Overall, this does the biopic genre well.

**SPOILERS** Both heart lifting as well as heart breaking true story of Amerian running sensation Steve "Pre" Prefontaine played by, Steve's almost identical twin look-alike, Australian actor Billy Crudup.

With a passion in going to the limit of his endurance in order to win Steve set running records in races from 2,000 to 10,000 meters during his short but unforgettable armature running career that ended with his tragic death in an auto crash on the evening of May 30, 1975. Steve was only 24 at the time and was in the process of making a comeback in the forthcoming 1976 Montreal Olympics to both face and defeat the "Flying Finn" Lasse Viren, Pat Porter,in rematch of their sensational race in the Munich Olympics back in the summer of 1972. It was Viren who defeated Steve back in 1972 in the terror filled Munich Olympics where 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by their Arab kidnappers.

In the film "Without Limits" we get to see how Steve pushed himself to the absolute limits in order to win. Like he told his girlfriend Oragon University coed Mary Marckx, Monica Potter, the reason that that I win is not that I'm the best runner in the race but the one who's willing to take the most pain in order to win it! And pain Steve took to the point of almost crippling himself, with a torn muscle, in order to win one of the many races that he competed in. Brash and sure of himself Steve found his coach of the Oragon University track & field team Bill Bowerman, Donalnd Southerland, detrimental to him in Bowerman wanting to change his unorthodox style of running. Bowerman wanting Steve to pace himself instead of burning himself out had to finally convince Steve to change his take the lead running style in the unforgettable 5,000 meter race at Munich. Holding back for the first two miles Steve finally exploded taking command with a mile left in the race. But with Steve's top competitor in the race Viren having enough left in not having to overextend himself against Steve, who was in the middle of the pack, for the first two miles he managed to pull out a victory and Olympic Gold Medal by passing and beating Steve in the last 200 meters of the race.

Washed up at age 21 with no intentions to continue his running career Steve went into a deep depression until both Mary and Bill Bowerman finally talked him into getting back on the race track and train for the 1976 summer Olympics in Montreal. As things were to turn out Steve never lived to participate much less win in them!

Great film about a truly great athlete Steve Defontaine who more then anyone else represented the Olympic spirit of selfless and honest competition among top athletes of the world's community of nations. Never looking for fame or fortune Steve only wanted to prove to himself and those who watched him preform-as well as participated against him-on the track that he was by far the best there was and ever will be in the field of middle to long distance running. The most fitting tribute for Steve was given at his memorial service by his tearful coach Bill Bowerman who finally, at the Munich Olympics which Steve lost, realized what a unique person as well as athlete Steve really was: "What Steve thought me is that the real purpose of winning a race isn't winning. It'as to test the limits of the human heart. And that he did. Nobody did it more often and nobody did it better".

There's something about true-life stories that generally make them more compelling than fiction. "Without Limits" is a good example. It tells the true-life story of Oregon long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine (Billy Crudup),known as "Pre", headed for the Olympics in the early 1970s.

Pre was not built to be a runner; he was too small. But determination and sheer guts helped overcome some of his physical limitations. When his girlfriend asks him how he can beat guys with more talent, he responds: "A little secret I learned a long time ago ... I can endure more pain than anyone you've ever met."

But he and his college coach, legendary Bill Bowerman (Donald Sutherland) were constantly fighting. Bowerman explains their relationship: "From the beginning I tried to change him. And from the beginning, he tried not to change. That was our relationship, and even that never changed." Late in the film, after some disappointments, Bill and Pre continue their verbal battle. Pre: "Okay, so what's my problem Bill?" Bill: "Vanity." Pre: "Vanity?" Bill: "Your insistence that you have no talent is the ultimate vanity; if you have no talent, you have no limits; it's all an act of will."

"Without Limits" is mostly a character study of a remarkable young man. Pre comes across as: brash, contentious, charismatic, cocky, and something of a prima donna; he also comes across as idealistic, single-minded, determined, relentless, self-assured, a risk-taker who is unafraid.

The script contains some fine dialogue. And the plot builds in intensity as we approach the 1972 Summer Olympics. After that competition, there's something of a lull. But given the fatalistic nature of the story, the plot turns riveting toward the end.

Color cinematography is competent. There are lots of close-up shots, and some slow-motion shots during various races. Pop songs from the early 1970s, along with era hair styles and clothes help put the story in its proper historical context. Acting is credible. Donald Sutherland has never been better.

This is the second of two films about Steve Prefontaine. The other is the Steve James directed film "Prefontaine" (1997). Both films are excellent. These films are not just for runners or for people who like bios. They're for people who can appreciate the significance of an ordinary guy who really lived, a guy who, in his chosen field, inspired others. That's what makes these two films worth watching.