Really Peter Strauss steals every scene there and in the playing lifer Larry "Rain" Murphy who is sentenced for killing his abusive stepfather after molesting his sister sexually.

Prefer being alone and has nothing in his cell to play it hard and deserves it and would do it again he tells a crowd of Olympic and prison authorities.

He only has one thing and running and how that he gets their attention there. And in the respect of his prison comrades later on. Knowing that he has a chance for Olympic glory despite his predicament.

Strauss is in every single scene there. Both with the late Ed Lauter as the track coach and the late Geoffrey Lewis as a psychologist who tries to let him open up about his past.

Brilliant all around!

Lifer convict Larry "Rain" Murphy (superbly played with tremendous passion and conviction by Peter Strauss) ventilates his frustration by running around the yard. When Murphy shows potential as an Olympic runner, he gets a chance to actually be sprung from prison.

Director/co-writer Michael Mann brings a refreshingly stark and unsentimental sensibility to this gripping and potent tale of redemption and thwarted unrealized talent that also serves as an astute exploration of racial tension and power plays behind bars, with Murphy's final act of quiet defiance standing out as a strong example of the triumph of the human spirit against impossible odds. Moreover, it's an especially nice and inspired touch to have almost everyone who helps Murphy out have their own agendas for doing so.

The tip-top cast helps a lot: Richard Lawson as Murphy's easygoing pal R. C. Stiles, Roger E. Mosley as the formidable Cotton Crown, Geoffrey Lewis as compassionate psychologist Dr. Bill Janowski, Brian Dennehy as cocky top con Dr. D, Billy Green Bush as the cagey Warden Earl Gulliver, Ed Lauter as no-nonsense coach Jerry Beloit, Richard Moll as hulking brute Joker Gibb, William Prince as a smarmy race official, Miguel Pinero as the shrewd Rubio, and Burton Gilliam as wormy flunky Jimmy-Jack. Filmed at Folsom Prison with inmates as extras, this superior TV movie has a gritty authenticity and wrenching poignancy that's as powerful as it is undeniable.

A loner at Folsom State Penitentiary (Peter Strauss) gains attention when it's discovered that he can run a mile in less than four minutes. Officials naturally try to see if they can enter him in the Olympics. The cast includes Brian Dennehy, Geoffrey Lewis, Richard Lawson, Roger E. Mosley and Ed Lauter.

"The Jericho Mile" (1979) is a prison movie meshed with sports flick. It's notable as Michael Mann's first movie wherein he was limited by TV constraints, yet it shows his potential and explains why he moved on to greatness, e.g. "The Last of the Mohicans" (1992).

Being made-for-TV, profanity is replaced by wannabe edgy jive talk, which can be unintentionally amusing. If you can roll with that, this is a worthwhile serious story about great talent being trapped in a cage, not to mention the brotherhood of humanity regardless of skin color. I could relate to Strauss' character and I imagine a lot of other viewers can too.

The movie runs 1 hour, 37 minutes, and was shot at Folsom State Penitentiary, Represa, California, about an hour northeast of Sacramento. Several of the peripheral cast members were prisoners at Folsom and do a commendable job.

GRADE: B-