Jockey

Greetings again from the darkness. "You gotta tell a horse when it's time to stop running." That line of dialogue is uttered in this racing film from writer-director Clint Bentley and co-writer Greg Kwedar, but the sentiment holds true for many others, including athletes, coaches, teachers, and politicians. For those who have spent their life pushing and driving, knowing when to stop does not come naturally. We learn this is so for jockeys, as well.

Clifton Collins Jr has long been one of our best and most intriguing character actors, and in a rare lead position, he becomes veteran jockey Jackson Silva. The man knows horses, but unfortunately, Father Time is catching up on the home stretch. Jackson is aging quickly as he fights to overcome a litany of injuries, including multiple broken backs. The timing for the end of one's passion is never good, and it's at this point where Jackson's long-time trainer, Ruth (Molly Parker), introduces him to "the horse" ... just in time for "the big race." Sure, it's all a bit convenient for a movie script, but it matters little, because filmmaker Bentley and actor Collins expertly capture the culture of racing in a naturalistic and organic way. Jackson carries himself with the quiet pride of a man who understands he's spent his life doing what he was meant to do.

As if on cue, young aspiring jockey Gabriel Boulliet (Moises Arias) shows up and informs that Jackson is his father - the result of a long ago fling with Gabriel's mother. Initially taken aback, Jackson and Gabriel form a strained bond through working out, training, and riding. In many movies, this story line would shift into eye-rolling melodrama, but that never occurs. Instead, filmmaker Bentley (whose dad was a jockey) maintains an organic feel by allowing a few real-life jockeys (including Scott Stevens and Logan Cormier) to exchange war stories. We hear firsthand accounts of the risks involved, and how these riders often become expendable.

Mr. Collins has westerns and horses in his acting bloodline - his grandfather shared the screen with John Wayne in RIO BRAVO (1959). It may not hurt that Collins is married to Clint Eastwood's daughter, yet mostly he comes across as a natural fit around horses and the track. His subtle masculinity is balanced by Ruth's ambition, and Collins shares a nice rapport with Ms. Parker, as well as with Mr. Arias. This is not the type of film where the horse racing takes center stage. In fact, we see no actual racing, and most of the riding scenes are performed in silence, rather than with the usual thundering hooves pounding the track. This is the epitome of a small movie and cinematographer Adolfo Veloso captures the intimacy of the characters. The story takes a backseat to the main characters, and we find ourselves right there in conversation with them.

Opening January 28, 2022.

Clint Bentley really portraits his character very well. He definitely showed his struggle in his health & in his jockey career. The storyline was just okay, wish more highlights.

I found a film without sex or violence that moves an audience's soul as those tropes never could. Jockey is intensely character driven with an unlikely hero, Jackson (Clifton Collins Jr.), a middle-aged jockey whose glory days are behind him but who conveys the hope that more may yet be coming. What he has accumulated, however, are some dear associates like horse-trainer Ruth (Molly Parker), with a hint of love on both sides but mainly horse-business. They resemble carnival workers committed to roaming the range with working-class races and a freedom not to be seen again.

Writer-director Clint Bentley (son oof a jockey) and writer Greg Kwedar have created a manly and humble hero, with heroic touches, who faces the biggest race of all, middle age with its broken bones and mysterious aches and threats from younger, healthier bucks. The main annoyance is his putative son, Gabriel (Moises Arias), who requires an emotional connection Jackson is slow to adopt.

Yet, Jackson meets each challenge with an inner goodness to slowly enrich a life he might have forsaken. As he offers his seasoned riding boots to Gabriel, the sweetness of this aging rider is manifest.

No grand action intrudes the minimalist plot, just a slow regret for parts of life not lived but now renewed in small acts of kindness. After all, the action takes place at a track in Phoenix, where lenser Adolfo Veloso has caught the glowing sunsets as Arizona has every night, each an emblem of loss to be followed by a sunrise of rebirth.

You'll not see a more soothing, poignant, and reaffirming indie this year-quite the opposite of The Power of the Dog, but in a similar way artfully painting the inevitable changes of time. Nomadland better expresses what Jockey hopes to do: reaffirm human dignity and its hope for a better life.

Here is a blockbuster antidote that satisfies as only an intelligent minimalist work of art can because it's all about character.

It has been said that the writer-director, whose father was a jockey, wrote the script with Clifton Collins Jr. In mind. During the movie we never learn the age of his character Jackson but Collins was about 50 during filming so I'm going with that age. A winning jockey at 50 or older is rare, in fact the great Bill Shoemaker was 54 when he won the 1986 Kentucky Derby and that, I believe, is the record. At least for big races.

This is a movie with little action but deep in character study. Almost all of it takes place at the Turf Paradise racetrack in Phoenix. Most of the "actors" are actual working jockeys and horse people. I believe there are only 4 characters portrayed by professional actors.

All this gives the movie an authentic feel, like we are looking at the real life and struggles of a 50-yr-old jockey with a number of medical issues, a jockey who knows his career is winding down. At one point he tells the long-time trainer "I believe a have two more good years in me."

This is a good movie, we care about each of the characters, and it gives a good glimpse into the real life of jockeys.

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library.

This is a stupid movie with no plot! That has no direction and for the entire of wanting for something to happen, nothing does! It's a waste of time. I have no idea what is going on past or present. Where is the action! It is all boring and nothing to see. A total waste of time. This movie should be shelved because it does not deliver anything rational. There is nothing to see but a film that drags on and on about nothing. This movie failed and lost its way from the beginning. I do not recommend.