If you've watched the trailer then you know the entire storyline. What can the film offer when you know what is going to happen? Disappointingly, at least to me, nothing much about horses or the world of racing except bits and pieces to drive the story forward. Nothing really about the horse is shown, it's told to us. Except for the final half an hour or so, it feels like a theater play rather than a movie.
The focus of the movie is squarely on Penny, played by Diane Lane, and perhaps in some ways only about her while the rest of the cast and the horse fill up her world. The first half of the movie about Penny and her story about being a strong woman, and the second half of the movie is the races, edited with a billion reaction shots in it. It constantly switches over every few seconds to show reactions of the actors, spoon feeding us reactions rather than the race show itself.
The movie is very well acted and told, and is solid in every aspect. It has the period drama sheen and Penny's story as the main focus takes it more into women's movie territory. Overall, it's a good movie but nothing we haven't seen before quite a few times.
The focus of the movie is squarely on Penny, played by Diane Lane, and perhaps in some ways only about her while the rest of the cast and the horse fill up her world. The first half of the movie about Penny and her story about being a strong woman, and the second half of the movie is the races, edited with a billion reaction shots in it. It constantly switches over every few seconds to show reactions of the actors, spoon feeding us reactions rather than the race show itself.
The movie is very well acted and told, and is solid in every aspect. It has the period drama sheen and Penny's story as the main focus takes it more into women's movie territory. Overall, it's a good movie but nothing we haven't seen before quite a few times.