Downhill Racer (1969)

To call Robert Redford's ski film DOWNHILL RACER a sports film is almost missing the point. It's actually a very quiet character study laced with excellent sports action scenes.

Earlier in 1969, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" became a blockbuster across America. Those flocking to this film later in the year expecting to see the same charming, funny Redford were likely very disappointed.

Playing against the charm that he'd already built in films like "Barefoot in the Park", Redford stars as arrogant, self centered skier David Chappellett, just recruited to the USA Ski Team due to an injury to another team member.

David starts off on the wrong entitled foot with USA Team Coach Claire (Gene Hackman) who recognizes David's talent, but knows immediately he's going to be a lot to handle.

Globe hopping all over Europe during Olympic qualifiers, Director Michael Ritchie (Fletch, The Bad News Bears) immerses you in the world of athletes half way around the world, in new hotels and new cities every week.

It's a lonely life that Redford's David fills with Carole (Camilla Sparv) who works for a major ski manufacturer. David isn't a typical sports hero. He's very quiet most of the time, brooding and moody. Ritchie's film is in no hurry to paint David in a better light than he deserves, on or off the slopes.

The film lulls you with everyday life, with characters often just existing in silence.

Just when the quiet gets overbearing, Ritchie and director of photography Brian Probyn (Badlands) plunge you into a downhill race at full speed from every angle.

Most of David's runs are shown from his point of view, thanks to two handheld cameras that must have been revolutionary in 1969. On a big screen, the timed runs have all the thrills of "Grand Prix" or "F1" as you fly down hill at incredible speeds.

Redford was an accomplished skier and did most of his own skiing for the film, save the falls, which he left for a stuntman.

Behind the scenes, the film took a long time to get off the ground. It was supposed to be the directorial debut of Roman Polanksi, but famed Paramount producer Robert Evans wanted Polanksi to do "Rosemary's Baby", which Redford was attached to in the John Cassavetes role. Redford backed out, Ritchie replaced Polanski and the rest is history.

Hackman would joke in later years that he always felt like an extra in the film, which was clearly a Redford star vehicle. Their scenes together are strong, with two great actors going toe-to-toe.

It's an early example of the variety of work that Redford would serve up over the next five decades, bouncing back and forth between character driven dramas and pure entertainment with movie star grace.

At least twice in the film, especially during the sequence in which Redford's David goes back home to visit his father, I considered how this film feels like a Paul Thomas Anderson film of this era. It's focused on a jealous loner with self centered ambition. Sadly, I think that type of film was more commonly made in the late sixties and early seventies than today.

Redford is excellent, fearless in his portrayal of a man who might not actually have much beneath that perfect exterior, beyond blind ambition. In DOWNHILL RACER, that's enough, earning a respectful and nostalgic B.