All Hat

A classic tale of the little people vs the big 'uns. It is set in a community that could be anywhere in rural North America under threat of suburbanization, but happens to be Ontario. This could matter from a box office point of view since it is sufficiently recognizable to Americans as to not need to be seen as a Canadian film.

The soulful, moody score from guitarist Bill Frisell helps carry the film forward as the down-on-their luck band of battlers try to fight the rising tide as represented by the billionaire's dastardly son. Sonny Stanton is played so interestingly by Noam Jenkins that you end of sort of liking him anyway. My favorite scene focuses on him getting into deeper trouble losing tons of money at the track.

Lisa Ray and Rachael Leigh Cook fight for most delicious horse country babe. Ernie Hudson, Keith Carradine, David Alpay, and Joel Keller, among others, give character performances that provide a fun weft to the scheming warp of counter-scam mastermind played by an understated-but-credible Luke Kirby.

Proof that Canadian film can be fun, I greatly enjoyed this film!

Here is a movie that the family can watch. It is real. The acting is phenomenal! A little profanity, a bit of flirting. Beautiful scenery. Made in Ontario! I'd have to say that I was very surprised by the overall quality. The soundtrack was excellent!

Ray Dokes (Luke Kirby) leaves prison to find most farms back home have been bought up by old nemesis bully land developer Sonny Stanton (Noam Jenkins). He starts working for poor old friend Pete Culpepper (Keith Carradine) on his horse farm. Ray's former love Etta Parr (Lisa Ray) refuses to sell to Sonny. Chrissie Nugent (Rachael Leigh Cook) is Pete's wild drunken jockey. Sonny is in gambling debts and has a thoroughbred stolen.

The film looks flat. Luke Kirby doesn't have big screen charisma. Nobody comes off looking good and I put most of it on director Leonard Farlinger. The performances are tired and weary. There is no energy. The movie has some great actors but they are either secondary or they struggle in the haze. The character Ray isn't good to root for either. He's screwing Chrissie right away but we're suppose to root for his star-crossed love for Etta. There are also a few too many side stories to the movie. The story has some potential but it's not realized here.

Keith Carradine and Ernie Hudson are great and perfect for their roles . Nice story set in Canadian early Autumn . A laid back movie with a great ending that you will never tire of watching ; especially if you are a horse lover ! Made with mostly Canadian actors including First Nation Graham Greene and Gary Farmer. Luke Kirby is excellent in leading role . Set is in Fort Erie Canada and revolves around Kirby just released from 2 years of prison coming " home" to his fathers friend ( Carradine) a struggling farmer and small time race horse raiser struggling to make ends meet . All about setting things right and the little guy trying to come out ahead by taking down corrupt creeps . I highly recommend watching this movie and have no idea how some gave it a fair rating. Also has great background music and soundtrack .

This is a thoroughly enjoyable movie that has something for almost every one. Two beautiful women, lots of beautiful horses and some really good acting. Add in the conflict between rich & poor or good and evil and it's all there.

The fact that it's set in Ontario, my home, is a big bonus. I get so tired of movies made in Canada pretending to be some where in the US.

The fact that it was obviously shot in early Fall when the leaves are changing makes every outdoor scene a feast for the eyes and considering this is mainly an outdoor story that says a lot.

I went into this not knowing what to expect because I didn't look up the movie before seeing it. I watched it due to the strange name and it finished with me wanting more.