Shot in the Olympic Village in China during the 2018 Olympic Winter Games at PyeongChang the movie Olympic Dreams takes on a special glow that makes it feel real. Although the story is a work of fiction, Alexi Pappas who plays Penelope is a real athlete who competed in the NCAA and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil where she ran the Women’s 10km. She is a Greek American and ran representing Greece in that Olympics. She’s also an accomplished filmmaker, screenwriter, actor, director and producer of movies and TV. In Olympic Dreams, which she wrote, she stars in the lead as a cross-country skier.
First time Olympian Penelope (played by Pappas) has an uphill battle to try and win the almost impossible race against the world’s best. The cross-country skiing challenge is a grueling event that takes and immense amount of energy, courage and skill and even the most athletic challengers find it difficult. When we meet Penelope for the first time, she has completed her race, but does not go back to the USA where she lives for 5 more days. Being the first time at the event, she has been shy when it comes to making friends.
Each of the athletes must get checked by a dentist and Ezra (played by Nick Kroll) has volunteered his dental services so he can experience his lifelong dream of being behind the scenes of the worldwide event. Being in the Olympic Village at PyeongChang has had him alive with the experience. Especially being one of the professionals that get to meet most all of the entrants, he’s on top of the world even attending some of the events. He has a personality larger than life and gets make friends easily with his warm personality.
One of the athletes Ezra dental checked is Penelope who has set her leisure time watching events and enjoying Olympic Village life as best she can. During one of her cafeteria visits she sits alone eating and listening to music. Recognizing Penelope, Ezra approaches her and they strike up a conversation. The age difference of about 8 years, but it doesn’t concern Penelope and she starts to bond with Ezra.
Directing the film is Jeremy Teicher who has worked with Alexi Pappas on other projects and directed her 2016 film Tracktown. He has a keen sense of timing and as the two lead characters get to meet at first, he pulls a small spark of kindness, then kindles it as the film progress into something more. As the relationship grows, we find the two characters completing the top of their acting arc it’s about to change as it becomes a reality that they must part for home.
Being at the actual Winter Games, Teicher uses every possible opportunity to guide the cameras with the sports and locations being the backdrop. It’s a nice show of grandeur mixed with romance that’s subtle at first then bursting with love.
I like the actors in the film. Choosing Nick Kroll who has over 110 acting credits including my TV favorite “The League” was a smart move on the part of producer Alexi Pappas. Here as Ezra he’s as much alone as Penelope and you can feel it even though he’s very outgoing. Ezra’s also the most grounded of the two knowing that anything that happens in PyeongChang will probably stay their forever. He’s cautious as the relationship develops, knowing full well that someone or both may get hurt in the end.
As for Alexi, she’s already headed for the pros in all facets of filmmaking. But, where she excels most is her performance on the big screen. A producer brings it all together from finances to production, a writer has to press for her script to get made into a film, but it’s the actors who make it all a piece of art and that’s what Alexi does here. Here Penelope is cute and cuddly and wide-eyed as a kid in a candy store. But, has no one to share it with until she meets Ezra. It’s then and there that the world stops and she boards her adulthood. You can feel the emotion and clinging as she lets herself loose and finally gets the experience she hoped for.
Olympic Dreams has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for some language and sexual references.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A nice romantic film built around one of the greatest events in the world. (4 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Alexi Pappas, Nick Kroll, Morgan Schild, Gus Kenworthy
Directed by: Jeremy Teicher
Genre: Romance, Sports, Comedy
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some language and sexual references
Running Time: 1 hr. 23 min.
Opening Date: February 14, 2020
Distributed by: IFC Films
Released in: Theaters and On Demand
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
