Rating of
2.5/4
“You are a great champion”
MovieAddict - wrote on 12/02/13
The story is about a beautiful race horse named "Sonador", who breaks her leg in an important race. Racehorse trainer Ben Crane (Russell) is reluctant to have her put down in front of his daughter and defies his boss and ends up losing his job, accepting the injured horse as part of his severance pay. Ben decides to nurse an injured horse back to health and then breed Sonador with a prize-winning stud. He hopes to sell the offspring off for a tidy profit but his dreams come crashing down when he finds out that Sonador is infertile.
The devastated Ben hands the reins over to his daughter Cale whose knowledge of horses comes from the old stories of her estranged grandfather, Pops (Kris Kristofferson), who once bred race horses and lives in the guest house. Cale dreams of running Sonador in a prestigious race, The Breeder’s Cup but the possibilities seem farfetched as the family would have to find $120,000 to enter the race. Just when it seems there is no hope, help comes in the form of Oded Fehr (that cute Israeli actor from The Mummy). He is the brother of The Prince Ben’s ex boss is working with.
While predictable this is one of those feel good movies that leaves you smiling and crying at the same time. The relationship between the grandfather, father, and daughter is real and touching. Kurt Russell and Kris Kristofferson have some fabulous scenes together, Elizabeth Shue gives a lovely performance and Dakota Fanning is just too cute for words and captivating in the lead role while David Morse plays the bad guy.
