A riveting portrait of drive and isolation revealing that the fiercest competition often lies within ourselves.
With the Winter Olympics in full swing, it’s the perfect time to revisit Downhill Racer (1969), the feature debut of director Michael Ritchie—praised by Roger Ebert as “the best movie ever made about sports – without really being about sports at all.” In the film, a young Robert Redford stars as David Chappellet, an Alpine skier who joins the U.S. team, coached by Eugene Claire (Gene Hackman), after its top competitor is injured during an FIS event. Chappellet’s rural naivety is concealed by a bulletproof confidence, revealing a ruthlessly competitive streak as soon as he arrives in Wengen, Switzerland.
Redford himself once named Dave Chappellet as one of his favorite roles, and it’s easy to see why: it’s arguably the only time he portrays someone with no real admirable qualities. Chappellet’s single-minded obsession with triumph explains his social awkwardness and disregard for protocols—much to the chagrin of his teammates. As one coach remarks wryly, “It’s not exactly a team sport,” capturing a latent anti-authoritarianism reminiscent of late-sixties antiheroes.
When Chappellet is assigned a late start position (#88) for his first race, he flatly refuses to compete, insisting that poor conditions aren’t worthy of his skill. At the subsequent race, he starts higher in the order, finishes fourth, and garners immediate attention from the press—attention he both expects and resents. Released just weeks after Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid propelled Redford to stardom, Downhill Racer parallels his own rise: he was already recognized from television and Barefoot in the Park, and Chappellet’s ascent mirrors the raw talent waiting to be spotlighted.
Beloved by professional skiers for its realism, Downhill Racer employs a documentary-like approach that immerses viewers in the sport. Much of the race footage comes from the handheld, first-person perspective of Joe Jay Jalbert, a Ski Hall of Fame inductee who also served as Redford’s skiing double. The visceral sights and sounds—the scraping of skis on snow, labored breathing, wind slicing across the slope—bring urgency to each downhill run. Rather than romanticizing picturesque backdrops, Ritche frames competition itself as the film’s central conflict, revealing how fiercely personal ambition can drive an athlete and how high the cost of success can be.
—
Downhill Racer
Director Michael Ritchie
Writer James Salter
Stars Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, Camilla Sparv
Rating PG
Running Time 1h 41m
Genres Drama, Sports