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Tom Courtenay, Michael Redgrave, James Bolam, Avis Bunnage, James Cairncross ... see more see more... , Alec McCowen , Peter Madden , Julia Foster , Joe Robinson , Topsy Jane , John Bull , Philip Martin , Frank Finlay , Peter Duguid , Robert Percival , Peter Kriss , Arthur Mullard , Anthony Sagar , John Thaw , Dervis Ward , Raymond Austin , James Fox , Christopher Parker , John Brooking , Brian Hammond , Christopher Williams

One of the key "angry young man" films which helped define the British "Kitchen Sink Drama" style of the late 1950's and early 60's, this story centers on Colin Smith (Tom Courtenay), a bitter young m... read more read more...an from a working-class family. Uninterested in school and determined not to follow his father into factory work, Colin and his friend Mike (James Bolam) make their pocket money through petty crime, until they're arrested after the robbery of a baker's shop and sentenced to Borstal (British reform school). The Governor of the school (Michael Redgrave) takes a keen interest in Colin, but he cares less for his rehabilitation than his gifts as a broken-field runner; Colin finds himself torn between the need to please his captors and his determination not to play along with what he sees as a corrupt system. The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner was the first film for Courtenay, whose performance earned him the "Most Promising Newcomer" prize at the 1962 British Film Academy awards. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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19 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 34 min.

Directed by: Tony Richardson

Release Date: January 1, 1962

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DVD Release Date: February 13, 2007

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Flixster Reviews (161)

  • mjgildea
    April 7, 2011
    mjgildea
    While The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a beautifully bleak story about a reform school kid and for good or ill, the choices he makes. Great direction and cinematography along with a great debut performance by Tom Courtenay are definitely the highlights of this movie,... read more but what I really liked was the flashback-told story and buildup to a truly well-done finale. Out of all the "angry young man" movies I've seen, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner was the best because it actually explained WHY its protagonist was the way he was as opposed to making you endure the behavior of a raving dipshit.
  • matertenebraum
    February 10, 2011
    matertenebraum
    Ahh Mother,why oh why oh why oh why, don't they make them like they used to? Forget your Guy Richie crime capers,'Loneliness of the long distance runner' is British cinema at its best. I can't explain why I love this film (erm so why I am I here?), whenever I try to explain the p... read morelot to friends they look perplexed as to why the film should be so good. Tom Courtenay is in his element in his portrayal as the 'loveable rogue'. Has 'Jerusalem' ever been more poignantly sung as it has here? Im not urging you to go out and purchase the film, but if you have a spare 90 odd minutes and it comes on television then watch it. Ta.
  • pier007
    March 28, 2009
    pier007
    Colin Smith is a rebel with a cause, the furious voice and spirit of the proletariat, the people who have to suffer for the privileged and get nothing in exchange but a terrible burden.

    A battle against an opressive system, depicted in a fiery and emotive way. Magnificent chara... read morecters and story, and phenomenal Tom Courtenay.

    One of the crown jewels of British cinema.
  • littlecharmer1959
    February 6, 2008
    littlecharmer1959
    Brilliant!
  • Sunshineyness
    December 13, 2009
    Sunshineyness
    A great "angry young man" drama from the British New Wave. Very realistic and very interesting this movie tells the story about a teenager who just can't give in to the system. He knows the people in charge suck and his home life is sucky so he turns to a life of petty "kid stuff... read more" crime to alleviate both problems and have some laughs with his best friend and girlfriend. He gets caught though and sent to reform school where the governor in charge wants him to be a world class runner and the do gooder who works there wants so very much to fix his anger.

    This movie does a fantabulous job at capturing the sometimes rational, sometimes irrational anger at establishment that comes in some youth. I found myself intensely remembering being that age and having that same anti-establishment feeling inside of me to the point where I couldn't even verbalize it.

    The performances are strong and the story and dialogue is top notch. The only downside is the sometimes to stylized camera work (too many shots are sped up and they can come off as humorous rather than serious) but mostly it's forgiven with the old adage, "well, in the 60's they just wanted to be different."
  • jinyookim
    January 7, 2009
    jinyookim
    Immediately I was transported to another country in another time period. I fell asleep right away because it was too late into the evening to try to decipher what the characters were saying. The next day I put on the subtitles, which helped IMMENSELY. For people who are not used ... read moreto British English, I suggest doing this. The subtitles, however, ran over all the people's faces and a lot of action was hidden by these enormous subtitles. On to the story. Reading from the other reviews, I'm sure you get that the story is about a poor teen who has family problems and gets into trouble for the thrill of it (and as an escape from his boring and serious family life). When he's out and about with his friend, the accomplice, they get into all sorts of trouble, from stealing cars to picking up girls, to stealing money, and then spending it all. These scenes, juxtaposed with his dying father, his whorey mother, and his annoying bratty siblings, is enough to justify his actions. I'm not sure how old Tom Courtenay is in this movie but he's supposed to be playing a teen, and he looks like a skeletal old man, especially in the scenes where there is running (very unattractive, for those who care about these things). I wasn't really a fan of all the flashbacks. To be honest, it was a bit jarring and sometimes pointless because the flashbacks didn't seem to move the story further. The middle of the movie felt slow but it started moving again once tension built up between "Smith" and "Stacy". Maybe the book was written in this way so the film followed suit. From watching this movie, I found myself asking "Who do you live your life for?" "What does winning mean?" "Who is playing who?" Smith chose what he did because what he had at the school was probably better than what he had at home and being too good at running may have put too much pressure on him to succeed and for the benefit of people he didn't trust. He essentially chose not to play the game.
  • PolarisDiB
    April 5, 2007
    PolarisDiB
    Well, I must say I'm very surprised. I've never really seen such an important conceptual movie ruined by such poor filmmaking.

    The post-war angst of this film, plus its youth culture concepts and even more important, its attempts at time at social realism, make a very biting ... read moreand angry essay on social materialism and conformity of the time. The acting is amazing, and the arguments it makes are very poignant, but everything else at one point or another falls completely apart.

    For one thing, the story is predictable in a bad way--by the time the movie is a third of the way over, it's hard to pay attention because it's pretty obvious the decision he is going to make at the end, whatever his motivations (the revealing of which aren't nearly as surprising as they should of been).

    The cinematography was terrible! Many close-ups are indecipherable due to the fast movement of the bodies or characters within them, a lot of the mise-en-scene is cluttered in a distracting, "Wait, what are we supposed to be looking at?" way, and sometimes it seems like the filmmakers didn't care about the fact that their camera seems to be ready to fall over. One particular tracking shot down the side of the street was awful in a way that made me wonder, "Why did they even bother including it?" I get a sense that in many ways, this is a low-budget film, but I've seen enough films rise above their budget for much less important topics often enough that it feels almost like all the energy went into the scriptwriting and acting and by the time they got to the actual shooting, they all ran out of energy.

    The editing is uneven. Some parts of the editing are magnificent, mostly with the running/flash-back style cuts and montages. The continuity editing is terrible, and half the time it looks like they just didn't care where the shot ended, just as long as they had another shot (good or bad) to follow it. This movie moves like a clunky engine desperately needing some transmission fluid, and no amount of "social realism" forgives that, especially since this movie isn't.

    Overall, I was disappointed because had the actual production of this film been well done, the movie itself would have been very amazing. It is, indeed, memorable. It just suffers from bad grammar that garbles up its message.

    --PolarisDiB

View All The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner Reviews

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
August 4, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

The performance of Tom Courtenay and the imaginative, if sometimes overfussy, direction of Tony Richardson, plus some standout lensing by Walter Lassally makes this a worthwhile pic. Full Review

Bosley Crowther
May 20, 2003
Bosley Crowther, New York Times

While this show of compassion may not sit comfortably with those who distrust social agitation and too easy sympathy, it must be said that a splendid presentation is made by Mr. Richardson. Full Review

Dave Kehr
January 1, 2000
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

More allegory from the depths of the British kitchen sink. Full Review

Simon Crook
August 4, 2008
Simon Crook, Total Film

Ultimately, Richardson's pot-shots at consumerism and class have lost some urgency, but the nihilistic, punky buzz packs an immortal wallop. Classic. Full Review

Douglas Pratt
August 4, 2008
Douglas Pratt, DVDLaser

In attempting to straddle dramatic realism, Richardson tried hard to avoid moralizing on the hypocrisies of adults or exaggerating the experiences of youth, but in striving for the middle ground, he a...

August 4, 2008
TV Guide's Movie Guide

One of the best of the British 'Angry Young Man films.' Full Review

Chris Barsanti
February 28, 2007
Chris Barsanti, Filmcritic.com

An iconic representation of a time, less so now. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
February 14, 2007
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Splendidly directed by Tony Richardson (just before Tom Jones), this highlight of the working-class British cinema (aka "Young Angry Men" films) features a stunning debut performance by Tom Courtenay ... Full Review

June 24, 2006
Time Out

Most of the period hallmarks of the British New Wave are paraded here. Full Review

February 10, 2004
Film4

A landmark in British cinema, which not only launched Courtenay's career, but also continued the trend of assertively incorporating contemporary social issues into film drama. Full Review

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