Delayed Reaction: Jockey

Premise: A jockey at the end of his career struggles to move on.

 

Jockey is one of the few Sundance movies I saw that lived and died by the quality of the lead performance. Many were ensembles or had enough else going on to work even if the lead performance didn't. Jockey needs Clifton Collons Jr. to be great though. Otherwise, it's a familiar sports story that's a little busier than it needs to be. Really, it's The Wrestler for horse racing. And The Wrestler also mainly works because of the lead performance.

 

So, Collins is Jackson, an aging jockey. It's all he knows and it's all he's ever done. However, his body is falling apart. He knows he shouldn't be riding anymore. He does a lot of his racing for his friend, Ruth (Molly Parker), who is one of the more working-class horse owners at the track. She just got a horse though that's special. It could be a champion and she wants Jackson to ride it. Oh, and there's a young jockey, Gabriel (Moises Aria), who claims to be Jackson's son who he never knew about. Jackson is suddenly looking at his greatest opportunity for success, the door shutting on his career, the life he never had, and how to leave his legacy all at the same time.

 

In some form or another, it's all stuff I've seen before many times. It totally worked for me; mainly because of Collins. He is one of those character actors who I've seen a dozen times in shows, big movies, and small movies. He's always good, but he's never the lead in anything I've seen. He sells all the beats of this movie, more than they deserve in some cases. His decision to mentor Gabriel feels like his own and not a plot mechanic. He's not self-destruction, although he doesn't take care of himself the right way. There's a purpose behind his decisions. I especially love a one-er at the end of the movie that allows Collins to run through a range of emotions while not saying anything.

 

I don't want to suggest that Collins is the only thing good about the movie. Molly Parker is at ease in a way I don't get to see from her often. Director Clint Bentley captures a world and community that feels real and lived in. The movie is pretty without being showy. Even when I knew exactly where the story was going, I didn't mind, because the tone of it all was right. I don't think the movie is quite good enough to overcome if someone just doesn't like the mechanics of sports or horse racing movies, but that's about the only negative thing I can find about it.

 

Verdict: Strongly Recommend