Halter Off

The internet is not short of profile documentaries - particularly of characters that most of us would probably not engage at first flush in real life - so when a good one comes along I do tend to grab it. Halter Off is one of these, although it is hard to believe that it is a documentary and not a scripted drama, because it does have a very cinematic narrative. We join Angelo Jackson when he is out of pocket and luck it seems, although he continues to focus his efforts on horse training. Due to a criminal act as a younger man, he is not allowed on state property but continues to train, with his eye on his horse winning a high profile West Virginian race.

The film and story has a lot of energy to it, with only a few moments where the pace is off. It offers an underdog story with a difficult but charismatic character in Angelo. In the style of its genre, it gives us talking heads over footage which is well-shot, slow-motion, etc but yet it works because of how well it delivers the story. Without going whole docu-drama, it frames the narrative in a way that makes for a mini-drama, which it then slickly delivers. It never gets under the skin or threatens to do more than entertain, but it does do this, and does it well, with everything working to engage the viewer and produce a payoff at the end.

It is superficial and slick perhaps, but it uses that well to produce a cinematic and enjoyable profile doc / sports movie.