‘Running’s always been a big thing in our family, especially running away from the police...’
It might be kitchen sink fatigue (I have watched a lot of these films recently), but The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner hasn’t aged as well as some of its peers. Tom Courtenay is just as compelling as he is in Billy Liar and the addition of Likely Lad James Bolam is a welcome one, but ultimately, this is one film in this movement that it’s ok to skip…
Colin Smith (Courtenay) is torn between his twin passions – stealing and running. When he is sent to borstal for doing too much of the former, he soothes his troubled soul by throwing himself into the latter.
A very thin plot. There is no denying it. Other characters come and go, most notably Bolam as Colin’s friend and co-conspirator Mike, but this is Courtenay’s show, and boy is he great. More acerbic and rough around the edges than some of his other early roles, his Colin Smith is akin to Arthur Seaton from Saturday Night and Sunday Morning or Michael Caine in Alfie – high praise indeed. The issue is that while Alan Stillitoe’s dialogue is great, providing a wonderful snapshot of working-class humour in the 1960s, the plotting is non-existent and the cinematography workmanlike. The old-fashioned score doesn’t help either.
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is worth watching for Courtenay’s performance alone, but it is undeserving of its classic status.