DREAM HORSE | FILM REVIEW
Dir: Euros Lyn (PG, 113 mins)
A feelgood comedy drama based on a true story, Dream Horse delivers a homegrown, crowdpleasing hit. Based on 2015’s hit documentary hit Dark Horse, Toni Collette plays Jan Vokes, a woman stagnating in a Valleys town and desperate for something in her life other than bar and supermarket work in between listening to husband Brian (Owen Teale) snore. She is inspired to go into the horse racing world, forming a syndicate made up of locals and Damien Lewis’ Howard – a gambling man who works in a soul-destroying job for the tax office. They invest in a foal, Dream Alliance, pay for his training with their tenner-a-week kitty and see rewards reaped as the horse rises up through the ranks to triumph… but there will be hurdles along the way.
Euros Lyn directs with assurance, creating a winning band of syndicate members in the shape of Welsh character actors like Di Botcher, Steffan Rhodri, Darren Evans, Rhys Ap William, the superb, scene-stealing Karl Johnson and Welsh grand dame Sian Phillips. Teale and Collette are a believable couple, the former with his missing teeth and obsession with animal castration programmes, both have lost their verve for life and find hope and inspiration in their equine hero; Collette transcends the accent barrier with a heartfelt and nuanced performance.
Joanna Page (Gavin & Stacey) plays Lewis’ wife, wary of his involvement in another potentially damaging gambling dead end: theirs, too, is a marriage under threat from a lack of opportunity and financial issues. Neil Mackay’s script makes stealthy social points about the running down of Valleys communities and opportunities and the power of collaboration. There are tense horse racing sequences and punch-the-air moments of triumph, coupled with a proud Welsh identity. Yes, the national anthem is sung, as is Delilah by the cast, but it all manages to work and feel authentic rather than tokenistic. The whole film gallops along with a winning exuberance towards the Welsh Grand National, and it would take a hard heart indeed not to feel the hwyl at its climax.
Out now in cinemas and via Video On Demand on Fri 11 June
words KEIRON SELF