Dream Horse

Name: Dream Horse
Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport, Comedy
Released: May 21, 2021
Duration: 113 min
Rating: 67
Cast: Alan David, Anthony O'Donnell, Asheq Akhtar, Carwyn Glyn, Damian Lewis

2021

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Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews

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Dream Horse

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Movie Details & Credits

Bleecker Street Media | Release Date: May 21, 2021 | PG

Starring: Alan David, Anthony O'Donnell, Asheq Akhtar, Carwyn Glyn, Damian Lewis, Darren Evans, Di Botcher, Joanna Page, Karl Johnson, Katherine Jenkins, Lynda Baron, Nicholas Farrell, Owen Teale, Peter Davison, Rhys ap William, Siân Phillips, Steffan Rhodri, Toni Collette

Movie Facts:

VOD release: June 11, 2021.

Summary: Dream Horse tells the inspiring true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely race horse bred by small town Welsh bartender, Jan Vokes (Toni Collette). With very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbors to chip in their meager earnings to help raise Dream in the hopes he can compete with the racing elites. The group’sDream Horse tells the inspiring true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely race horse bred by small town Welsh bartender, Jan Vokes (Toni Collette). With very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbors to chip in their meager earnings to help raise Dream in the hopes he can compete with the racing elites. The group’s investment pays off as Dream rises through the ranks with grit and determination and goes on to race in the Welsh Grand National showing the heart of a true champion.… Expand

Director: Euros Lyn

Genre(s): Biography, Drama, Sport, Comedy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 113 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

Richard Roeper

May 19, 2021

We can see every plot point rounding the turn long before the finish line, but that’s OK, because we’re having a (dare I say it) jolly grand time every step of the way. Read full review

IndieWire David Ehrlich

May 19, 2021

Dream Horse hits its stride off the track, where the paint-by-numbers drama of winning and losing takes a backseat to a more nuanced tale about the need to get back in the race. Read full review

Natalia Keogan

Jun 10, 2021

A propensity for conventional cinematic formulas aside, Dream Horse thrives as a pleasing drama that keeps the story compelling and showcases talented actors in refreshingly wholesome roles. Read full review

Ben Pearson

Feb 1, 2020

The script doesn’t add anything new to the sports movie formula – you can see every major plot development coming from the stratosphere – but Lyn’s execution of those ideas powers the movie through its predictable plotting. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Matt Zoller Seitz

May 21, 2021

There's nothing about this kind of film that is innately less "formulaic" than what you get when see a Marvel, Star Wars, or Fast & Furious movie; it's just gentler and more human-scaled. Read full review

Simran Hans

Jun 6, 2021

With its hero’s journey structure, punchily edited racing scenes and warmly drawn oddball community (a widow, Maureen, is obsessed with Tunnock’s Tea Cakes), the film is shamelessly predictable and thoroughly feelgood. Read full review

Jenny Nulf

May 19, 2021

Inspiring true story? Perhaps not, but certainly a story that’s genuine enough to earn a few smiles. Read full review

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MarkHReviews

May 30, 2021

In the early 2000s, Jan Vokes decided to breed and raise a racehorse, just to prove to herself that “things can change.” Her village of Cefn Fforest was in decline as the economy moved away from mining, the town’s primary industry. Her goal represented a worthy ambition and a worthyIn the early 2000s, Jan Vokes decided to breed and raise a racehorse, just to prove to herself that “things can change.” Her village of Cefn Fforest was in decline as the economy moved away from mining, the town’s primary industry. Her goal represented a worthy ambition and a worthy sentiment, just like this film.

“Dream Horse” is based on the true story of the steeplechase racer Dream Alliance. It’s inspired by the documentary “Dark Horse” (a much punchier title) that won a World Audience Award at the 2015 Sundance Festival. At Jan’s prodding, the residents of her Welsh village decide to pool their resources (“just a tenner a week”) to fund the breeding and development of their racehorse. They have no experience. They make up for this deficit with baseless, boundless, endearing enthusiasm. (There’s something very charming about seeing this lot literally rubbing elbows with the social elite of the UK in the owner’s box.)

For a story about horseracing, there are sections of the film that are very slow-moving, although the irony appears unintended. As a sports story, this film ticks all the boxes. Initial promising success, check. A major setback creating an insurmountable obstacle to be overcome, check. You get the idea. By comparison, working on a paint-by-numbers picture is thrillingly unpredictable.

“Dream Horse” becomes much more interesting when it gallops into the eccentric lives of the townspeople. Jan Vokes is played by Toni Collette, who burst onto the scene in 1994’s “Muriel’s Wedding.” In the opening scene of “Muriel,” a bridal bouquet descends to the soundtrack of an incoming missile, excellent foreshadowing for Collette’s career. She’s been impactful ever since. It’s Collette who saves this film from sinking into an excessive sweetness that could threaten the theater’s concession stand sales. Unfortunately, though the other townspeople offer a wide range of potentially rich backstories, their story threads are never pursued. Damain Lewis (Howard Davis, a local accountant who actually knows something about horses) is given almost nothing interesting to do. But after watching him in forceful roles in “Homeland” and “Billions,” it’s fascinating to see Lewis inhabit a role totally devoid of menace.

The problem with this film is that it can’t decide what it really is. Because it never figures out whether it is a sports story or a character study, it gives a variety of interesting topics – the Welsh economy, the virtue of dreaming, whether people are too self-limiting, the concept of actual character development – only a glancing blow.

Dream Alliance earned a respectable 138,646 Great British pounds. At the end of the racehorse’s career, after paying for his upkeep, medical bills and other expenses, each member of the syndicate walked away with 1430 GBP (a little over $2000). After investing their time in this film, members of the audience may find their sense of enrichment was similarly modest.… Expand

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