Amazing Racer

While the acting was not Oscar winning, it was competent. It was nice to see Louis Gossett Jr. back in movies though to think this was Charles Durning's last movie makes one wince. Make no mistake, the movie is predictable. For those who love racing, they will like the movie provided they can deal with the artistic changes to conform to time constraints. The race scenes were very good.

My problem comes with some of the editorial decisions. I winced at a couple of scenes which may be considered rough for those sensitive to animal rights and children. The movie didn't fully develop some of the back stories of the trainers.

The movie is promoted as being family friendly. I would suggest Amazing Racer is not a movie for those under ten or sensitive to animal abuse (simulated).

A movie to rent, not to own.

Julianne Michelle is magnificent! Her performance is superb. The cast, consisting of Oscar winners and nominees, Golden Globe winners and nominees, is fantastic. Daryl Hannah, a lover of horses, is perfect in her role. Ms. Michelle is winner "Best Actress" for the feature film "The House is Burning" also starring Melissa Leo (Oscar winner). At age 26 Julianne Michelle has won awards in Europe and Hollywood for her excellent work in film. She is a fabulous actress and a beautiful woman. Claire Forlani is always at her best. Louis Gossett Jr. (Oscar winner) is outstanding. Michael Madsen is quite convincing as a caring best friend to the dad. And Carson Brown is adorable and gives a fine performance. Charles Durning, a great actor and a US war hero, did a good job.

The only reason I watched was because of the harness racing element. The writers obviously didn't do a very thorough job on that research because a 16 year old with NO experience would never have been able to obtain a pari-mutuel drivers license in the time frame represented.

The emotional relationship with the mother and daughter could occur and the involvement of horses helps heal a lot of wounds. The story just throws in too many undeveloped characters and impossible horse training scenarios that are not reality.

Clean language and gorgeous horses and racing shots would make it suitable entertainment for kids. Purist racing fans are going to hate it.

Shannon Greene (Julianne Michelle) loses her father and she goes into a tailspin. She thought she was an orphan because she was told her mother was dead. Then she's told that her father lied to both her and her mother telling them both that other was dead. This premise seems problematic to me. Was there a funeral? Wouldn't the mother find it suspicious? I guess the unspoken understanding is that the mother didn't really want the baby.

The mother Christine (Claire Forlani) is now a successful doctor and her boyfriend Eric (Jason Gedrick) has horses for harness racing. Shannon is full of anger, but she start to open up as she takes care of one of the horses. Then one day after a race, evil horse owner Mitchell Prescott (Eric Roberts) bought out the horse. Once again, Shannon's loved one is ripped from her.

Julianne Michelle seems a bit too old to play the teen. But she does have one great scene where she breaks down after losing the horse. Of course they were able to buy the horse back, but only after Mitchell Prescott had almost killed it. The movie is supposed to be inspirational but the movie kinda missed the point. The heart of the story must be the mother-daughter reconciliation, not the love between a girl and her horse.