Dream Horse

"We lost our jobs, our community, even our pride. And then Dream came along and reminded us what life is like when you are home."

Dream Horse tells the inspiring true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely race horse bred by small town Welsh bartender Jan Vokes. With very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbors to chip in their meager earnings to help raise Dream in the hopes he can compete with the racing elites. The group's investment pays off as Dream rises through the ranks with grit and determination, showing the heart of a true champion. This is what we call a crowd-pleaser. Everything about it is there to make you feel the triumphs and defeats everyone goes through on the path to victory. For that reason, the story goes where you think it would. It hits all those beats in both drama, comedy, suspense, and scenes trying to get you to cry with the characters. That's not necessarily a bad thing because it's 100% expected going in. It does take away from the movie, though, and it might be its biggest weakness. Still, the story is very enjoyable. Which makes sense for its extremely high rating of 90% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Some of the writing isn't as good as it could be, falling into cliches. But there are some scenes that work well with the characters. If you're gonna watch the movie for anything, it's Toni Collette. Her portrayal of Jan is fun and just the right central character needed. I don't know. There's not much more to be said. It's predictable and cheesy, but that's all part of the experience. I like Dream Horse and it's a quality movie to watch if you want to watch something with heart.

I figured this would be a typical horse racing movie, and while there were some similarities to other films of this genre, it succeeds in providing quality entertainment that I did not expect. I think the Welsh , small town, part of the movie and how people banded together was a big difference. Excellent acting, very good horse racing scenes and like the other reviews in this forum have said , I left the theater glad I saw this movie. I recommend it to all .

It has nothing original or special to deliver but it's still a decent enjoyable feel good movie with a delightful true story about horse racing. The plot is well written, it also develops smoothly and beautifully. Cinematography is amazing with many stunning shots. The whole atmosphere of the movie is beautiful and cosy. Toni Colette's performance is superb.

Lovely true story, happy and sad. Wonderful cast and good racing scenes.

In substance this movie isn't much different from any number of movies over the years depicting horse racing success against heavy odds. What makes this one unique is how the horse came about.

Set and filmed in Wales it is a true story from almost 20 years earlier. A middle age woman has a boring life, she works at the local supermarket, she also works at the local pub, and goes home to prepare meals for her lackluster husband. She really has nothing to get excited about, to look forward to the next day.

That changes when a new guy shows up at the pub and she learns he had been involved in horse racing but not with a very good outcome. Still she gets very interested, studies up on the subject, figures out all the costs, and devises a plan. She will form a syndicate with interested townspeople, she will buy an appropriate breeding mare, she will hire a proven stud to produce a racing horse.

Let's pause for a minute, genetics being what they are, any offspring are like rolling dice, as Forrest Gump might have said "You never know what you will get." So the chances that any random horse being a champion racer is a big gamble, it could be great, it could be mediocre, or it could be a tragic failure. Even with the best of trainers.

There would be no worthwhile story here if the new horse had turned out to be a dud. But there is a story and this movie presents it entertainingly and authentically. Going to the internet and researching the actual story is worthwhile.

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our local library. We enjoyed it and found turning on the English subtitles necessary to understand the strong Welsh dialog.