The Cup

The Cup is based on the true events that happened during the 2008 Melbourne Cup and the dedication, motivation and tragedy of the trainers, jockeys and all those closest to them.

It's directed by Simon Wincer who's most familiar pieces of work was Free Willy, The Phantom and Phap Lap.

The story is primarily told from the perspective of Damien Oliver and is semi auto biographical. It show's his struggles with the death of his brother who was killed while horse racing only two weeks before the Cup, and the anticipation of all those closest to him as Oliver is faced with the heavy decision, to follow is heart and keep racing or his head and pull out.

Stephen Curry is great as Damien Oliver he both acts and looks the part of the famous jockey. His supporting cast includes many well known Australian actors like Shaun Micallef and Daniel MacPherson but its Brendon Gleeson from Harry Potter fame that really give a likable performance.

There are a few things that do let this film down. One criticism was the overall feel of the movie which felt like a day time soap opera with cheesy editing, over use of montages and at times poor acting.

The major problem for me was the flash back sequence's which showed Damien Oliver's Mother re-live the memories of her Husband's fateful fall off a race horse. Not only were they not needed they were over dramatised and gave it a genuine Neighbour's feel.

While may people know who wins the race, the behind the scene's insight into the weeks of preparation it takes to compete in the Cup is very entertaining and the film also does a good job of showing the challenges Damien Oliver had to go through, which I had little knowledge of.

where's the plot? where's the storyline? where's the directing? where's editing? well, i can easily tell you about this braindead movie, there's none whatsoever you could ever find in this bore-you-to-death movie. i've wasted about 35 minutes trying to figure out what the movie was about and failed, then i have to bail out. i saw there was a presentation of the jockey of the year, then sections of horse race training, then some clueless absolutely irrelevant taxi at the airports, airplanes taking off and landing, some hotel scenes, some absolutely irrelevant ball game attending, lot of meaningless, clueless dialog....blah, blah and blah. of course, there were horse racing segments again and again, but all of these scenes failed to get the audiences connected. i just felt helplessly clueless by watching those boring and aimless conversations between those characters. i was trying very hard to give some depth to this so-called 'the cup' a big deal, but just ended up with lot of ????!!!??? this is one of the worst movies i've ever seen and it's not even qualified for a B movie. i don't know what i'm writing here, because i really don't know what to say, just like the movie itself, absolutely nothing. there are horse movies, there are horse racing movies, but this one is the worst.

Excellent Film, Recommended for Horse Racing Fans as is based on true events, Gets you en-thrilled with the action, Hopefully there will be other films done Similar to this on some of the UK's main Races such as the Grand National, Epsom Derby, Cheltenham Gold Cup etc.

Simiarilities to this film are Secretriat, which is nowhere near as realistic as The Cup, I thought Brendon Gleeson Did a excellent job playing the trainer Dermot Weld. To improve this film the only thing I think they could of done to improve it is have the Jockey's played by themselves.

As mentioned at the start though, a brilliant film to watch for all horse racing lovers, whether thats owners, trainers, jockey's or backers.

How someone could give this a negative review is beyond me. It is a great story and was well acted.

Me thinks the rotten tomatoes people need to go back to their site where their self appointed movie critiquing expertise is welcomed. I generally never watch below a 5.0 as I trust this site but this 4.8 (which is beyond me as it should be in the 7 range) was poorly mis-rated. I was lucky enough to see someone's post that said these people are crazy this is a great movie.

The movie is heart warming....it is a real story and is all around a great watch. You won't be sorry for watching it. Enjoy.

This is a true story based on the 2002 Melbourne Cup horse race. As a Brit although I'm aware of the Melbourne Cup I didn't know of this particular story. It's a modestly budgeted film but the intriguing and fantastic story more than makes up for that. I was a bit put off by the relatively low rating (5.6) before I watched it but it's a far far better film than that rating suggests.

With a well paced and easy to follow plot it's a touching tale with plenty of weepy moments but also interspersed with great moments of triumph. It has a decent cast and is well acted throughout with a top performances from Brendan Gleeson and Stephen Curry. It maybe is a little slow to get going so you will need a bit of patience at the beginning. However once it hits it's stride it does keep you riveted.

The story has all the necessary ingredients this genre needs. Whilst not as good as the brilliant Seabiscuit, this is a very good entry to the genre. If you enjoy these kind of movies then you really can't go wrong watching this.