Year Released: 2004
Directed by: Michael McGown (himself an Olympic runner)
Starring: Adam Butcher, Campbell Scott, Claire Collins, Gordon Pinsent
(PG-13, 98 min.)
Genre: Drama/Comedy

“Most marathoners will tell you, around mile 20, they start praying for any kind of help they can get.” –Father Hibbert

Start with an scoop of The Christmas Story, sprinkle in a few bits from Unbroken, and top with dollops of The Quiet Man and Iron Will. Add a little magic and you have the delightfully irreverent sleeper, Saint Ralph.

Saint Ralph is the unlikely story of Ralph Walker, a ninth-grader who outran everyone's expectations except his own in his bold quest to win the 1954 Boston Marathon.

Despite its title, Ralph (Adam Butcher) is certainly no saint. In fact, he is mischief maker and social outcast who is always getting into trouble at his catholic school in Hamilton, Ontario. And he is certainly no truth teller, either. His father is a WWII hero who never returned and his mother is in the hospital with a debilitating disease.

Living in the large family house alone, Ralph answers the phone in a falsetto, pretending to be his now deceased grandmother, while he gets his best buddy, Chester (Michael Kanev), another social outcast, to forge her signature on school notices.

His latest offense, smoking on school grounds, as well as an embarrassing incident at the local swimming pool, lands him on the school cross country team as a form of penance. The cross country coach, Father Hibbbert ( Campbell Scott), is a rebel at heart, too. He has the students read Nietzsche in religion class, frequently landing in hot water himself with the very strict and traditional Head Master, Father Fitzpatrick (Gordon Pinsent).

Father George Hibbert:[as Ralph shows up for his first Cross Country workout] We run in Cross Country, Ralph... Run.

Ralph Walker: How in Christ did I ever end up here?

Father George Hibbert: I ask myself that every day.

Ralph treats cross country as the penance it is, showing no interest or talent for the grueling practices until the priest/coach sparks his interest with a casual remark to the team:

“Only 14 more weeks until the Boston Marathon,” he quips, certainly in jest, but Ralph’s ears perk up. When Father Hibbert tells Ralph it was just a joke, that it would be a miracle for the team to even qualify for that august event, Ralph is hooked.

The key is the word “miracle.” Because that is now exactly what his mother needs, having recently slipped into a coma.

Helping him in his journey is Claire Collins (Tamara Hope), the blond beauty Ralph adores. She is as pure as he is wild and a very dedicated Catholic.

For a true miracle to happen, she tells him, he must have faith, purity. and prayer. Sadly Ralph currently strikes out on all three, if you will forgive my shifting to another sport for my metaphor.

But since it would be a “miracle” for him to win the Boston Marathon, he decides that is the key to awakening his mother from her coma. The faith, purity, and prayer, he will work in along the way.

Now Ralph, once he has a purpose, is dedicated beyond belief. He checks book out of the library and starts to follow the its running catechism, eating 6000 calories a day, complete with an overflowing lunch, and then, of course, he is too sick and bloated to walk, let alone run.

Finally, Father Hibbert has to intervene. He even shares his secret past as a former Olympics hopeful, only to injure his knee just before tryouts. He will coach Ralph, but only on one condition: No talk of the Marathon as a miracle ticket for Ralph’s mom.

The workouts are grueling for both coach and runner, especially the night training in the cold rain. For every step forward there is one backward, and sometimes two. Ralph persists, and so does Father Hibbert, even if it means losing his job at the school.

Can miracles still happen? Are we wrong to wish for and pursue them, as both priests caution?

Or maybe Ralph’s dedication itself, combined with the heady elixirs of passion and pain, is miracle enough, even without a Marathon win or his mother’s awakening.

You won’t know until you watch this little Canadian sleeper, will you?

–Kathy Borich
🥁🥁🥁🥁

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

Ralph’s initial preparation for winning The Boston Marathon is a bit obsessive, and that is not surprising, since the library book advice he is following was written by an excellent running coach who unfortunately went insane.

So Mr. Longboat’s advice about having a breakfast of 4 raw eggs and consuming 6000 calories a day doesn’t really make it for Ralph.

Let’s help Ralphie out with this delicious breakfast using Canadian bacon. It is so much more delicious than raw eggs ever could be. Sorry, Rocky.

Canadian Bacon Egg Cups