Usain Bolt, a nine-time Olympic gold medal winning Jamaican sprinter who has been called the fastest man alive, is an object of worship in this loose biographical portrait, despite his own lack of ego, abounding good nature, and sense of mischief. Considering that Bolt began his competition years at the age of 15 (in 2002) and worked extremely hard for a spot on Jamaica's 2008 Olympic team before going on to further victories in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic games, a certain amount of laudatory footage makes sense. So does time spent in Jamaica with Bolt's friends and family, where we hear from his father about imposing discipline on young Usain and how the latter initially competed with fellow students to win their lunches. But the most interesting material concerns the heavy price that sprinting has exacted on Bolt's body, and the psychological ramifications of serious injuries that force him to begin training anew from point zero. Ultimately, however, the window into Bolt's personal world presented here is all too narrow, and this plays more like a puff piece than an insightful biographical profile. Optional. (T. Keogh)
I Am Bolt
Universal, 102 min., PG, DVD: $14.95 Volume 32, Issue 2
I Am Bolt
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