Dream Horse

from Picturehouse Magazine - Black Widow

by TRUE 212 Ltd

Hall Of Fame: Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli

DIRECTOR EUROS LYN

RELEASE DATE 17 APRIL

STARRING TONI COLLETTE, DAMIAN LEWIS, OWEN TEALE, JOANNA PAGE, PETER DAVISON, NICHOLAS FARRELL, SIÂN PHILLIPS

CERTIFICATE TBC

RUNNING TIME 102 MINS

THE STORY OF DREAM ALLIANCE –THE CHAMPION RACEHORSE BRED ON AN ALLOTMENT AND OWNED BY A SYNDICATE FROM A SMALL TOWN IN THE WELSH VALLEYS –has already inspired the 2015 prize-winning documentary Dark Horse. Now galloping to a cinema near you is Dream Horse, a dramatised account of this remarkable triumphagainst-the-odds story.

Little Miss Sunshine star Toni Collette further proves her incredible range, starring as Jan Vokes, a woman who, when she’s not working in a supermarket or at the local working men’s club, spends her days tending her aged parents and her husband Brian (Game Of Thrones’ Owen Teale), who is unable to work because of arthritis.

Jan decides that she needs something more in her life, and an idea sparks after she overhears Howard (Damian Lewis) in the club where she works. An accountant for a big firm, Howard used to be part of a racing syndicate –although, as we learn, it almost crippled his family financially. Even so, as an animal lover who has bred everything from rabbits to whippets in the past, Jan is soon under starter’s orders.

After buying a Directory Of The Turf, a breeders’ bible advertised in the back of Horse & Hound, she convinces Brian that she wants to breed a racehorse and rear it on their allotment. It sounds absolutely barmy –remember, this is a true story –but when Jan invests her savings in a mare, Rewbell, and takes it to a stud farm, her dream comes that much closer. Rewbell gives birth to a foal.

Of course, horses cost money, and Jan implores those around her to pool their resources. Although Howard initially scoffs, his own staid life crunching numbers means he’s also yearning for a bit of excitement –as long as his wife, Angela (Joanna Page), doesn’t find out about it. When other members of their community pitch in, Jan and Brian set about finding a trainer for the horse they aptly name Dream Alliance –but this is just the start of a journey that will see Dream compete for glory.

Directed by Euros Lyn, who worked on the BBC’s His Dark Materials, Dream Horse perfectly fits the mould of the classic, feelgood British film. It’s along the lines of The Full Monty, Calendar Girlsand Fisherman’s Friends, featuring a tight-knit community that comes together for the greater good. Lyn and scriptwriter Neil McKay balance the earthy humour and heartfelt passion just right.

Leading the way, Collette is marvellous as Jan, nailing the Welsh accent and the emotional bond she forges with her horse. Lewis is warm in his role, playing a very different sort of financial whiz to his character in TV series Billions. Really, though, it’s the ensemble casting that makes Dream Horse fly, from veteran actor Karl Johnson as the beer-loving Kerby to Dame Siân Phillips as syndicate member Maureen. Peter Davison as Lord Avery, the snobby horse owner, is another delight.

The racing sequences are impressively staged; Lyn and his team create genuine excitement and tension on the track, and with each race having its own distinct character, you genuinely feel like you’re alongside Jan, Brian and co in the stands, cheering on Dream as hooves thunder along the turf. However, Lyn equally captures the life in the Welsh valleys –right down to the club singsongs. It all adds up to gem of a movie –one that will keep you applauding right up to the finish line. James Mottram