Wordiezett So much average

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Bob Rutzel This is a true storyIn 2001, Jan, a barmaid in a local English pub decides she wants to breed a race horse. She convinces 30 of her townspeople to invest in this venture. They do and name the horse Dream Alliance. Jan and her group pay the hefty costs of getting a known trainer, Phillip Hobbs, to train Dream Alliance. To the amazement of all Dream Alliance wins races, but in one race was kicked by the hoof of a horse in front of him and a tendon was sliced. Stem cell surgery saves him and he is able to race again. This is - without a doubt - some story. It is a documentary and starts out like a Ken Burns documentary with still pictures and narratives. After a while the still pictures go away and we see actual footage of Dream Alliance in races and posing for pictures with the owners. The narratives continue throughout with interviews of the owners. Many of these personal quips are pure gold and some are truly funny and there are too many to relate here, but you will enjoy them. There are 2-things that I didn't understand: (1) we never see trainer Hobbs with Dream Alliance; we do however, see him talking about Dream Alliance; and (2) we never see or hear any jockey with Dream Alliance. I thought these were huge oversights. Okay, one other thing; we never hear or see news blurbs about Dream Alliance, but we do see the headlines. Also there are never comments from the rich owners about Dream Alliance. One would think they would say something whether good or bad and maybe they declined comment for this production. Who knows?In any event this is a beautiful, most delightful and unbelievable true story. Yes, there may be times you will need a box of Kleenex at the ready. You will get the feeling that Dream Alliance knew what was expected of him and he did all he could to do his best. If he could talk I am sure he would have said that. (9/10)Violence: No. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No.

asc85 It's a definite feel-good movie, and in addition to that, it's one of those movies that if it was a fiction piece rather than a documentary, you'd say that something like this couldn't happen. As I live in the USA, I was completely unfamiliar with this story, as there's not exactly a lot of coverage here regarding thoroughbred racing in Wales. But that's a good thing, because I had no idea where this story was going to lead, and how it was going to end.My only small criticism of this movie is that like many documentaries, there are a number of re-enactments of what occurred at earlier times. I'm not a big fan of those, but other than that, it's an enjoyable experience seeing this film.

jdesando "There are other things that I could do, but there's really nothing that I love as much as horse racing." Chantal SutherlandI dislike being forced to feel good, as movies from the likes of Disney Studios regularly do, but Dark Horse, writer/director Louise Osmond's documentary about the Welsh "thoroughbred," Dream Alliance, made me feel better than when I walked in because it's true! Owned by a group of Welsh commoners from a small town, Dream is a winner from its beauty to its heart.Not only is the story a rouser, but Osmond also uses cinematic techniques like artful slow motion, and she has the real characters from the story narrate with their abundant charm and impish humor. To listen to their affection for their horse and see how it has changed their lives to a loving community is to experience an authentic story. Although I'm not a fan of living anywhere other than the city, this town could easily win me over.Not surprisingly, Dark Horse won the Sundance audience award this January. It appeals to those who love a story about working folk one-upping the gentry in the sport of kings, and those, especially Americans, who favor the underdog winning the gold ring. In this story, the horse, in 2000 the brainchild of a local barmaid, Jan Vokes, is comfort and joy for a town that has experienced the shutdown of its mine and the loss of spirit.The strength of the doc is, as it should be, in the talking heads on camera, working-class folk with ample personality and pluck to make engaging commentators and models for a happy citizenry who never envy the swells, the usual owners of race horses. The class theme is handled by Osmond subtly and respectfully, easy enough because the Welsh are an independent and proud lot not about to envy anyone, much less the rich.Osmond crafts this story as if it were a seamless fiction, so filled it is with the vicissitudes of life that affect all of us not able to live off fortunes. The heroes of this story are the townspeople who invest in the horse when economic times are tough and ROI not certain. Beautiful horse. Beautiful film

markgorman Once in a while fairy tales come true in real life. This documentary charts the story of one of those times.Louise Osmond unfolds her story in real time using a mix of interviews, reminiscences, TV footage and a variety of amateur video moments of varying quality, but the story is so compelling that some of the rougher bits merely add to the gritty reality of the tale set in the grimmest of Welsh valleys. In a former pit village (Cefn Fforest, Caerphilly) that could certainly not be described in any way as idyllic.It really is a ripping yarn for our times and concerns the career of a racehorse called Dream Alliance owned by a motley crew of 30 working class Welsh men and women, bred by the cleaner at Asda and mared by what could best be described as a bit of a dray horse with literally no discernible racecourse form whatsoever. The sire perhaps had a bit more form, but hardly of Nijinsky proportions.The subplot of the story is about class. The most noble, most royal and most privileged sport of them all (apart from, say, polo) is horse racing. So to enter the world of horse racing as a bunch of 30 complete amateurs who could barely afford the £10 a week the syndicate they formed in their local pub to breed and then race a horse was more than simply a "challenge" it was verging on the insane.But slowly but surely Dream Alliance's story is told, from the search for his mother and father to his birth (caught on CCTV), his childhood being raised on an allotment and then his entry ("like a snotty nosed comprehensive schoolboy arriving at Eton") into Phillip Hobbs' Minehead yard.It's perhaps ironic that Hobbs assistant trainer, Johnson White, who tells the story from the trainer's side has every familiarity with the concept of silver spoons and was initially horrified at the prospect of these oiks and their second rate unschooled horse infiltrating his yard but at the end of the day money is money and given that many a mickle make a buckle the thirty Welsh dreamers had amassed enough of a muckle to give it a go.I won't spoil the story by going any further other than to say what now unfolds is Dream Alliance's at times roller coaster career. Told in almost breathtaking style. There were three or four moments that had me close to tears. Mainly in sheer admiration at Jan Vokes whose vision the whole idea was.This is a beautiful documentary, truly heartfelt, and utterly compelling with a vestry, very warm heart and a tremendous fillip for all those dreamers out there who dare to be different.Go and enjoy!