TxMike

My wife and I always look for a pleasant and clean rom-com to watch after our usual weekend steak and wine dinner and we found this one on NFLX streaming. It is made much like a Hallmark movie where two single adults meet and get sweet on each other, something drives a wedge between them, then they are able to reconcile.

We enjoyed it as suitable entertainment. The characters are quirky and include some inventive dialog, making it a cut above most movies of this genre.

The star is Minka Kelly as Sydney Price. She works for a USA company in business acquisitions. They learn of a chateau that is having financial issues and want to sell the property with its Champagne production. When she gets there she finds she is in an unusual "competition" with three others who want to purchase the property, they need to convince the owner they are the right one for the deal.

It ends in an unexpected and entertaining manner.

Good movie and includes some nice shots of Paris.

I found this movie streaming on NFLX. It is a true story of a farm boy from Utah who was blessed with natural running and jumping talent. In early scenes it shows him on the farm jumping over fences rather than go through or open a gate. He was quite accidently discovered by a high school coach. With his unorthodox style and complete lack of training, he could already jump higher than the Utah college record.

Relatively unknown Paul Wuthrich plays the title character Alma Richards. In an interview I watched he said his audition consisted of "run a bit, then jump a bit" and then he got the part. Also he is graced with a face that the camera loves and a good six feet plus build. Pretty much a perfect choice to play the athlete who also was a somewhat large person.

I really enjoyed this movie, it shows how resilience and focusing on the goal rather than the obstacle can lead to great things. The closing credits include photos of the real Alma who was the 1912 Olympic champion in his event.

First, a note about the title. In Scotland, where this is set and filmed, "the outrun" is a reference to a piece of outlying grazing land on a farm. We see a scene of Rona in the outrun, helping to deliver newborn sheep. The farm is her safe place.

This is based on a novel, the author wrote it based on her own life and her own experiences with alcoholism and eventual sobriety. While it is often hard to watch it is in fact a very good movie.

Saoirse Ronan at 29 is the main character, Rona. At one point, working on recovery, she says, "I don't know if I can be sober and be happy." As we have come to expect, she is great in the role.

My wife and I watched it, at home on DVD from our public library. The disc contains several interesting "extras" on the making of the movie, and includes comments from the author of the book.