The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)

(On Cable TV, May 2021) There’s a recognizable thematic ambition to The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner that’s rather easy to admire — a blend of class metaphors literalized in individual sports, a coming-of-age story that results in quiet rebellion rather than meek acquiescence and a portrait of the dismal state of the United Kingdom in-between postwar austerity and the Swinging Sixties. You can read analyses about the film and nod in recognition of the cleverness of the film’s intentions. But all of this fails when the execution isn’t particularly gripping — this is British neorealism at its dreariest, without an inkling of humour or panache. Director Tony Richardson’s take on the New Wave of cinema sweeping Europe feels as basic as it comes, and you have to like that style in order to get invested in the result. As a result, my appreciation for The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner tends to be more intellectual than personal — I can contextualize it as an important piece of 1960s British cinema, but I will almost certainly never recommend it over the other far more entertaining films of the era.