Without Limits

{{Infobox film

| name = Without Limits

| image = Without limits.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Robert Towne

| producer = Tom Cruise
Paula Wagner

| writer = Robert Towne
Kenny Moore

| starring = {{Plainlist|

| music = Randy Miller

| cinematography = Conrad L. Hall

| editing = Charles Ireland
Robert K. Lambert
Claire Simpson

| studio = Warner Bros.
Cruise/Wagner Productions

| distributor = Warner Bros.

| released = {{Film date|1998|9|11}}

| runtime = 117 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $25 million

| gross = $780,000{{Mojo title|withoutlimits}}

}}

Without Limits is a 1998 American biographical sports film. It is written and directed by Robert Towne and follows the relationship between record-breaking distance runner Steve Prefontaine and his coach Bill Bowerman, who later co-founded Nike, Inc. Billy Crudup plays Prefontaine and Donald Sutherland plays Bowerman. It also stars Monica Potter, Jeremy Sisto, Judith Ivey, Matthew Lillard and William Mapother.

The film was produced by Tom Cruise (Cruise and Mapother are cousins) and Paula Wagner, and released and distributed by Warner Bros. Due to a very low-key promotional campaign, the $25 million film grossed only $777,000 at the box office, even though it received positive reviews from many major critics.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119934/business Without Limits - Box office / business] at the Internet Movie Database[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/without_limits/ Without Limits] at Rotten Tomatoes Sutherland received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film.

Plot

The film follows the life of famous 1970s runner Steve Prefontaine from his youth days in Oregon to the University of Oregon where he worked with the legendary coach Bill Bowerman, later to the Olympics in Munich and his early death at 24 in a car crash.

Cast

{{castlist|

Billy Crudup as Steve Prefontaine
Donald Sutherland as Bill Bowerman
Monica Potter as Mary Marckx
Jeremy Sisto as Frank Shorter
Judith Ivey as Barbara Bowerman
Dean Norris as Bill Dellinger
Billy Burke as Kenny Moore
Frank Shorter as Fred Long
Matthew Lillard as Roscoe Devine
William Mapother as Bob Peters
Amy Jo Johnson as Iowa's Finest
Lisa Banes as Elfriede Prefontaine
William Friedkin as TV Director
Erich Anderson as Collin Pounder

}}

Production

=Development=

20 years prior to the film's release, Kenny Moore, a friend of late Steve Prefontaine, approached Robert Towne with the intention of making a film about Prefontaine but Towne was unavailable at the time. Three years later, the two worked together on the film Personal Best and they again explored the idea. In 1994, the two met and Moore began writing a script for Towne to direct.{{cite web|title=Without Limits : Production Notes|url=http://without-limits.warnerbros.com/cmp/notes.html|publisher=Warner Bros.|access-date=December 30, 2013}} Mary Marckx, Prefontaine's former girlfriend and friend of Moore, gave Towne over 200 personal letters written by Prefontaine, which provided an insight into his thoughts and she also shared information on the relationship he had with his mother.{{cite web|last=Hartl|first=John|title=Movies -- Prefontaine's Tragic Life Gets Another Onscreen Run|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19981004/2775654/movies----prefontaines-tragic-life-gets-another-onscreen-run|work=The Seattle Times|access-date=December 30, 2013|date=October 4, 1998}} Explaining how Tom Cruise got involved in the project, Moore said: {{blockquote|Robert and I happened to be working on a project with Tom Cruise, who is also a runner and was training for a triathlon at that time. Robert showed him seven minutes of Fire on the Track, a documentary about Steve Prefontaine. Tom immediately loved the story and wanted to see it made as a dramatic feature.}}

=Casting=

Towne originally envisioned Cruise in the role of Prefontaine, but it was decided he was too old.{{cite web|last=Longsdorf|first=Amy|title=Inspiration Goes The Distance In Tom Cruise's 'Without Limits'|url=https://www.mcall.com/1998/10/04/inspiration-goes-the-distance-in-tom-cruises-without-limits/|work=The Morning Call|access-date=December 30, 2013|date=October 4, 1998}} For the role, Billy Crudup who had been a college athlete trained for four months with Patrice Donnelly (she starred in Personal Best) to run short distances as he was expected to run 110 to 200 yards for a 5,000 meter race sequence. He also watched actual footage of Prefontaine to imitate his moves. Tommy Lee Jones, Harrison Ford and Clint Eastwood were considered for the part of Bowerman but they all turned it down and Donald Sutherland eventually landed the role.{{cite book |last1=Didinger|first1=Ray|last2=Macnow|first2=Glen|title=The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies: Featuring the 100 Greatest Sports Films of All Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3I54l-8RRQC&q=the+ultimate+book+of+sport+movies|publisher=Running Press |date=September 22, 2009|page=201 |isbn=978-0-7624-3548-7}} Monica Potter played the role of Prefontaine's girlfriend and spent a lot of time with Mary Marckx to prepare for the part.

=Filming=

File:HaywardFieldPano.jpg is the stadium used to film running sequences in Oregon]]

The film was shot on location in Oregon using the University of Oregon's Hayward Field. Scenes were also filmed at Heceta Beach, Oregon. Bill Bowerman's house served as a shooting location. After two months of filming in Oregon, the production moved to Los Angeles to film the Munich sequences at Citrus College. Some visuals of the Munich Olympics came from the documentary Visions of Eight: {{blockquote|Because Disney wouldn't let us use ABC's coverage, we were stuck for footage of the race. But then we found, in the vault at Warner Bros., outtakes from [the 1972 Olympics documentary] Visions of Eight So we were very lucky because we found perfect, unexposed 35mm film of that race that had never been put into any other film. The result is that you have full shots of Munich stadium and shots of Steve waist-high that cut to Billy and back, and you can't tell the difference.{{cite web|last=Majorr|first=Wade|title=Back on track|url=http://home.europa.com/~bence/pre/news215.htm|work=Box Office Online|access-date=December 30, 2013|date=September 1998}}}}

Reception

Without Limits met with positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 79% "fresh" approval rating with an average score of 6.6/10, based on 39 reviews. The website's consensus reads: "This drama about American track star and hero Steve Prefontaine intelligently looks at the character of this oft mythologized athlete and features a fantastic performance by Donald Sutherland as Prefontaine's trainer."{{cite web|title=Without Limits (1998)|url =http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/without_limits/|work=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Flixster|access-date=February 25, 2025}}