Schmaltz

Rating: 3/10 (27 October 2005)

Only the most sentimental viewer will find this formulaic tale of triumph over adversity anything to coo over.
From David McCullough's homely narration to Jeff Bridges's affable performance as a kindly industrialist and racehorse owner, this film is as clogged with sickly sweetness as a car with sugar in its petrol tank.
The success-failure-success plot structure is bathed in a golden light and consists of two types of scenes: a) off-track scene-setting, and b) on-track views of Tobey Maguire pumping his arms back and forth atop a stuffed horse while exchanging banter with other riders above the noise of thundering hooves.
It is every triumph-over-adversity sports film you have ever seen, but schmaltzier. Like Days of Thunder with hooves and syrup.