Quatre minutes

SYNOPSIS

In these days of pampered sporting prima donnas, this account of Roger Bannister's assault on the four-minute-mile barrier makes for edifying viewing. According to Frank Deford's screenplay, Bannister (Jamie Maclachlan) was torn between his medical studies and his athletic potential, and rose to the mile challenge almost as an act of patriotism following the conquest of Mount Everest in 1953. The romantic subplots prove something of a distraction. However, once Maclachlan knuckles down to training with disabled coach Christopher Plummer, the action becomes utterly gripping, with the race at Oxford's Iffley Road track on 6 May 1954 being staged with a real sense of momentous occasion.