Dream Horse Review
Dream Horse fits snugly into a specific type of modern Brit film. In the past the shrewd group of non-hopers had taken the lead through taking a naked bath (The Full Monty) and performing in a brass band (Brassed Off), getting naked to the W.I. (Calendar Girls), forming a male synchronised-swimming team (Swimming With Men) and singing sea shanties (Fisherman's Friends). Euros Lyn's film uses exactly as it sounds however this time it focuses on a group of people who raise the best thoroughbred horse in order to be champion. The film could be based upon the true story of the horse and has been told in a documentary called Dark Horse — but it's a fairy tales that are broadly but effectively presented.
The film is by Toni Collette that gives Jan's rebirth (and the movie) an emotional weight.
The story is set in the poor Welsh mining city located in Cefn Fforest, it centres on Jan Vokes (Toni Collette) who is a woman working two jobs — a check-out clerk at the Co-op as well as a bartenderto earn a living. After her husband Brian (Owen Teale) disabled by arthritis, and her children leaving to the next generation, Jan becomes interested in having a racehorse, which can bring in money and provide a source of joy in her lonely life. In the process of purchasing a brood horse, Jan and Brian together with the help by tax consultant Howard (Damian Lewis) create an organization that offers screenwriter Neil McKay the perfect opportunity to build a gang of comic relief (Karl Johnson's drunk friend, Sian Phillips' widow). When a baby comes into the world, locals enthusiastically christen horses Dream Alliance and enlist a trainer (Nicholas Farrell) And suddenly, the dull town is a beacon of optimism.
The story is followed by a predictable sequence of wins (the races are expertly executed, highlighting the extreme risk involved in jump racing) and mini-defeats. cultural clashes (salt-of-the-earth people with posh accommodations) and domestic conflicts (Howard's financial disputes with his wife Angela as which is played on screen by Joanna Page) and pop-music montages. The story is right straight-forward as the plot is often told through dialog — and there's no unexpected moment throughout the duration. Lewis and Teale provide a variety of textures to mundane roles, the first depicting a man crushed by a job that shatters his soul and who enjoys riding horses, and the other as an individual who finds his passion through his wife's newfound love. However, this is Collette's film and she is the one who gives Jan's revival (and her production) an emotional punch and a central point which elevates the rote material. She transforms a boring film about a sports underdog into something that is truly moving.
