{"id":22754,"date":"2021-05-20T14:21:31","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T21:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=22754"},"modified":"2021-05-20T14:21:31","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T21:21:31","slug":"dream-horse-is-a-low-key-but-cute-true-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=22754","title":{"rendered":"DREAM HORSE is a Predictable But Cute True Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This feature from Bleeker Street will be playing in open theaters on May 21<sup>st<\/sup>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/24_0007_B-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11858\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Horses are lovely and determined animals, as the creative\nforces behind the new film <em>Dream Horse<\/em> readily assert. This true story\nfollows a group of amateur racing enthusiasts from Wales who decide to raise\nand train their own animal, despite knowing little to nothing about the process\nof breeding. As you may have guessed, their efforts to do so were unexpectedly\nsuccessful. The film based on this real-life tale isn\u2019t a prize-winning effort,\nbut the charming cast do make it a fun and engaging little journey. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/dream-horse-06-fixed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22755\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a tiny, picturesque Welsh village, bored housewife Jan\nVokes (Toni Collette) is juggling a couple of jobs to help ends meet. When local\nHoward Davies (Damian Lewis) boasts to friends in a bar about having invested\nin a racehorse, Jan investigates and becomes interested in horse-breeding. She\nconvinces her husband Brian (Owen Teale) to help and eventually asks Howard for\nassistance. While the stranger initially scoffs at her ideas, her enthusiasm\nfor the project soon wins him over and the pair try to convince locals to invest\nin a syndicate. The recruits end up breeding a potential racer that they name\nDream Alliance. As time passes, their horse and the group are surprised to find\nthemselves entering the world of professional racing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is an inspirational story, which means that there is\nlittle about the general plot that\u2019s different from any underdog tale.\nThankfully, this film features some authentic situations and detail about\nhorse-breeding that does make the movie intriguing to watch. Star Collette is\nalways an engaging performer and makes the most of the story\u2019s personal\nconflict as insults are thrown her way for pursuing this expensive new hobby.\nAnd the story also draws viewers in as they learn about breeding horses along\nwith the determined but green protagonist, as well as her fondness for the new animal.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/dream-horse-03-fixed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22756\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Small British movies like these frequently rely on\nsupporting characters with entertaining quirks. Again, while the basic story is\npredictable, the oddballs do add a bit of interest to the proceedings as the\nsmall-town locals become horse-owners and show up at various high-class events.\nThe feature is also beautifully lit and shot and the human and equine cast are\nlovingly photographed. There is a wonderful wide tracking shot early on of Jan\nwalking down the village\u2019s main street to her job early in the morning. It\ninvolves a fun sight gag involving a trio of horses loose and grazing near the\nboulevard. And the racing footage is impressive as well, as the camera follows\nthe competitors speeding around the track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As mentioned, this reviewer will admit that many of the story\nevents being depicted onscreen aren\u2019t exceptionally dynamic. Jan is an incredibly\ndetermined protagonist and it\u2019s clear from the outset that there isn\u2019t much that\nwill stop her from achieving her goal. The movie tries to add some drama with\nHoward\u2019s financial investment history causing stress with his family. These\nconflicts don\u2019t end up amounting to any major drama or tension. In fact, most\nof the disagreements between leads that could have added extra thrills are resolved\nfar too easily.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/dream-horse-05.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22757\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Admittedly, this is a sweet and very simple movie.&nbsp; Viewers certainly wouldn\u2019t get anything out repeated viewings of the feature. Yet despite the predictability on display and the story\u2019s obvious elements, the horse-breeding details are interesting and the film is remarkably earnest and sincere in its attempts to inspire viewers. The movie isn\u2019t a masterpiece, but there isn\u2019t a cynical bone in its body and it does present a heartwarming true story about an unusual group of people trying something new and outlandish. <em>Dream Horse<\/em> may not be a complete triumph, but it is a reasonable bet for those searching out a low-key and cute British feature. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This feature from Bleeker Street will be playing in open theaters on May 21st. Horses are lovely and determined animals, as the creative forces behind the new film Dream Horse readily assert. This true story follows a group of amateur racing enthusiasts from Wales who decide to raise and train their own animal, despite knowing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[206,2979,3559,5076,6262,6263,6264,6265,9344,9345,9349,9351,15604,16577,23076,23321,23924],"class_list":["post-22754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-206","tag-bleeker-street-media","tag-british","tag-damian-lewis","tag-dream-horse","tag-dream-horse-film-review","tag-dream-horse-movie-review","tag-dream-horse-review","tag-horse","tag-horse-breeding","tag-horse-racing","tag-horses","tag-owen-teale","tag-racing","tag-toni-collette","tag-true-story","tag-wales"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22754\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}