Knowing how badly things turned out last time I highlighted a film about horse racing, scepticism feels like the right mood to enter this particular film with. Or I could expect basic sentimentality, given the median age of the cast here and the general pleasantness of the tone I got from the trailer (and, truth be told, the poster). But instead, I’m actually going into this with a certain amount of anticipation, and of course, it’s because I recognise a few of the names attached to this feature. We’ve got Toni Collette in a starring role, which is a start, but there’s also the director: Euros Lyn.
Now, depending on my reader’s familiarity with sci-fi television, that name might ring a bell, given his work on Russell T. Davies-era Doctor Who, Torchwood: Children Of Earth (low-key one of the greatest TV miniseries of the 21st century, and possibly even further back), and the Black Mirror episode Fifteen Million Merits, the one with the exercise bikes and a version of Pop Idol that’s somehow even more depressing than the real thing. Most of his work up to this point has been in TV production, with this apparently being his first theatrical release. Well, if this is his first sprint on the big screen, it’s good knowing all that experience and skill can translate this effectively.
The levels of sheer Welsh pride pouring out of every frame of this film is quite invigorating, particularly for a cinematic culture that doesn’t get much shine in the mainstream. The bulk of the main cast are Welsh, with the only exceptions being the British Damian Lewis (who still fits in as a desk-job accountant) and the Aussie Toni Collette (whose Welsh accent works so well, she doesn’t feel out-of-place at all next to everyone else). The main setting of a rundown Welsh mining town adds to that effect, especially with how the titular horse basically becomes a symbol for small-town mannerisms pitted against aristocratic wankery with Pete Davison’s bit part as an affluent horse owner. It admittedly can reach a weird note at times (almost literally; the ending pub sing-a-long feels a bit awkward if you forget that the original singer of the song is also Welsh), but it feels honest and rings through because of that.
Hell, a lot of this feels incredibly honest and down-to-earth, as the dramatic highs and lows of the story feel grounded in how the stakes are set up. With Collette’s Jan Vokes, we see an older woman who feels ignored and unsatisfied in her everyday life, and gains some zeal when she decides to breed a racehorse, with other folks in the town chipping in as an Alliance funding the same Dream (I’d call that hokey, if it weren’t for the fact that this is based on actual events… so it’s still hokey, but a rousing kind of hokey). But the way her character arc develops, it almost turns into a maternal relationship, with her showing real care and concern for Dream Alliance, making some of the bigger moments (like when DA trips on a hurdle during a race) hit that much harder.
Honestly, again with the cinematic road apple of Ride Like A Girl in mind, it’s the way the horse is treated within the narrative that most won me over here. Following Dream Alliance from literal conception to the races works well at developing that connection between audience and subject, and rather than being a look at horse racing from the POV of the industry, or even from that of the sportsmen within that industry, it’s more shown as an extension of rural animal farming. As someone with quite a few animals around the house (a few chickens, a rabbit, dog, cat, the odd spider we call our own, etc.), this feels like a product of love for animal life, not just the financial tidings they can bring. The races work incredibly well because we care about who is in the race itself, much like any good sports movie. Like, real talk, I actually felt myself tense up while I was watching those scenes; it takes proper talent to get me that invested in something like this.
Some may say that this is simple and inoffensive and not really much to get all excited about, but I’m not one of those people. No, this is the kind of simplicity that results in all the important ingredients being refined and delivered with real chutzpah, all designed to get the audience to care about what’s going on but never strong-arming them or pulling cheap tricks to make that happen. It’s got a great cast, an equal love for all things animal and Welsh, and for a film aiming for feel-good vibes, it’s easily one of the most honest reaches for those feels I’ve seen in far too long.
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