Download Dream Horse; movie review

 

 

DREAM HORSE

Cert 12A

113 mins

BBFC advice: Contains mild bad language, sex references, upsetting scenes

Oh, this is what we need - a good old-fashioned feel-good film with plenty of laughs.

Dream Horse is the perfect antidote to the misery of a pandemic which delayed its release for more than a year.

It keeps very faithfully to the tale of the Welsh villagers who created a syndicate with the unlikely idea of breeding a racehorse.

Their uplifting story is faithfully replicated by a star cast, led by the wonderful Toni Collette and Damian Lewis.

Collette plays Jan Vokes, a bored supermarket worker, who buys a mare with the very ambitious idea of her mothering a racehorse.

She then seeks investors to pay for the horse going to stud and for the costs of bringing up a foal.

Biggest supporters are her unemployed husband, Brian (Owen Teale), who is brought out of his proverbial slumber by her project and a local tax expert, Howard Davies (Lewis).

Davies has previously lost thousands on a syndicate but jumps at the chance of trying again for a tenner a week.

But, while there are setbacks during Euros Lyn's film, it concentrates much more on the moments of fun and glory than pathos.

Thus, we see the progress of the newly named Dream Alliance and the lift it gives the unlikely combination of folk who have invested in her.

The lead actors look uncannily like their real-life characters even down to Brian's rather unique teeth.

But there is also a bit of licence with folk such as Karl Johnson's Kerby, an elderly eccentric whose trousers have a hilarious habit of falling down.

However, this, and the rather clunky representation of actual horse racing, do not detract from a movie which made us laugh out loud eight times - more times than any movie since the pandemic outbreak.

Reasons to watch: The year's most uplifting movie

Reasons to avoid: A little bit twee

Laughs: Seven

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 9/10

Did you know? Middleham Park Racing is the country's leading racehorse syndication company, with more than 1,000 winners. Full ownership shares start at 2.5%, with a guaranteed owners badge and full entitlement to prize money and the matched share percentage of any sale proceeds from the horse.

The final word. Euros Lyn: "The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2020 and the buzz was really exciting. Then the pandemic struck and put the kybosh on our planned release. I’m so excited that the film is finally getting a theatrical release and its core message of the power of community, and triumph of hope over adversity feels more relevant than ever." HMV

Share this post