Marathon

I like director Carlos Saura's idea of using the marathon, both men's and women's, as a central metaphor for the Olympics and, by extension, all sports as a grueling grind with occasional moments of glory and more extensive moments of painful failure. Unfortunately, Saura somewhat vitiates this powerful motif by his stubborn and needless insistence on giving ALL sporting events screen time, including such eternal yawners as dressage and sailing. The result is a documentary that is less impactful than it should be. Give it a B.