A Disappointing Continuation

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This documentary tells the truly remarkable true story of the thoroughbred race horse Dream Alliance, and it is quite the Cinderella tale.In a small economically depressed Welsh mining town, a barmaid and cleaner at a local department store Jan Vokes was determined that despite all odds she was going to breed a race horse, and was the driving force behind a syndicate of local townspeople pooling and saving their money to do just that.They eventually found the mare Rewbell, who had a very brief unsuccessful racing career and was considered "mental" by her connections. She would be bred to the American stallion Bien Bien for a 3,000 pound stud fee, and this would lead to the birth of Dream Alliance.Incredibly, the horse was raised on an allotment, and would eventually be placed in the care of trainer Philip Hobbs and his assistant Johnson White. They evaluated Dream Alliance as not being very fast but having the "heart of a tiger".Well, as they say the rest is history as Dream Alliance would prove he could race and win steeplechase events among the racing elite, including the most prestigious Welsh Grand National. He would even be able to return to racing after a near fatal injury on the track, and became one of the first thoroughbreds to receive stem cell surgery.Of course, during all this time the Welsh townspeople in the syndicate were just thrilled with this amazingly improbable series of events. They seemed to particularly enjoy hobnobbing with the gentry at the racetracks and causing them all kinds of consternation.All in all, here in the States every once in a while a horse will come along with less than elite breeding, be backed by blue collar folks, and upend racing tradition by being hugely successful. This is one of those true stories and the film can be a feel-good tale for viewers of any age.

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.

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.

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!