Ride Like a Girl provides a thrilling true-story of Michelle Payne, the first woman to with the Melbourne Cup. Full of heart and excitement, this is one to check out.
“Teresa Palmer stars in Ride Like a Girl, based on the inspirational true story of Michelle Payne. As a little girl, Michelle dreamed of the impossible: winning the Melbourne Cup. However, a near-fatal fall threatens to end her hopes of competing in the race. With the love and support of her father (Sam Neill) and brother Stevie, she overcomes all odds to become the first female to win the Melbourne Cup.”
The film opens with a bit of history on the Melbourne Cup, a two-mile horse race that has been around for 150 years, along with a short introduction to the real character of Michelle Payne and the Payne family, the mother passing away, leaving the father, Paddy, played in the film by Sam Neill, with ten children to raise. With the family legacy in horse racing, it was a sure bet Michelle was going to follow the family tradition of horse racing. Growing up in a house constantly on the move, filled with ten kids causing chaos, Michelle is particularly close with the youngest brother Stevie who has down syndrome. Michelle can still see the bias in the sport toward females participating, regardless of the skill level, even at a young age. Now a teenager, she commits fully to the sport, remembering that no female has ever won the Melbourne Cup. With her father hoping for her to do something better with her life after the death of his oldest girl in a riding accident, him and Michelle become at odds with one another. Then, after a terrible fall herself puts her in a coma and rehabilitation, another blow to the head could kill her, but doesn’t diminish her resolve to become the first woman to win the coveted race.
Horse racing films are hard to pull off. For a race that usually lasts only minutes, filling in the rest of a story usually entails something much deeper than just the sport. For Ride Like a Girl, it’s the inequality of the profession, breaking barriers, and proving to the world that woman can compete just as well as men. The film is able to pull off a very heartfelt and inspiring story, filled with some very interesting and intense horse racing sequences that will have those not as familiar with the sport caught up in the excitement.
While the base of the story is Michelle Payne proving to herself and everyone else that she can win the Melbourne Cup, despite a horrific injury that runs the risk of killing her, it is just as much a story about a father/daughter relationship which is the essential part that makes up the heart of the film. Seeing this relationship have its ups and downs, can be quite the emotional journey, especially when Paddy regrets the strained relationship when Michelle is hurt. Watching the evolution of this relationship with his youngest daughter was my favorite part of the film, a very touching portion that makes the film that much more powerful.
The horse racing sequences are done extremely well, very life-like, doing something I’ve never seen before in this genre: focusing on the jockey interactions in the midst of the race, back and forths with one another, yelling and screaming about the openings and any one of them putting the rest at risk. Seeing this part of the sport that you don’t normally get to witness as a spectator puts things in perspective as the race becomes more than just horses running around a track, but the people who are riding them as well.
I don’t think this film would have been as good if it weren’t for Teresa Palmer and Sam Neill. Their relationship and chemistry with one another as father/daughter was very organic, full of love and affection, with the frustrations that go along with a family dynamic as large as theirs. Teresa Palmer is a fantastic actress, gained some popularity in the early parts of her career, but hasn’t had that breakthrough role yet to lead her to bigger things. I sincerely wish I see more of her, as she was able to convey an entire range of emotions throughout the film. Sam Neill, need I say more? I’ve always been a huge fan of his, and am in this film too.
Ride Like a Girl can have some very cheesy montage moments geared toward a younger demographic, but despite that, is still able to provide a very uplifting and inspiring film that packs a lot of heart with it as well. Much better than I was expecting.
Video
Released by Saban Films, Ride Like a Girl is only available on DVD with a 480i Standard Definition resolution. Thankfully, this also includes a digital copy in which you can watch the film in High Definition. If you pick this up, I recommend using that code and watching it that way, or just purchasing it through whatever streaming service you use to rent/buy. The film has some absolutely beautiful sequences, one in particular of brilliant colors of the setting sun against the intense horse-riding training. These deserve to be seen in HD.
Audio
The audio on the DVD is presented in Dolby Audio. The track sounds good, with a nice mix of the surrounds and center channel. The surrounds utilized heavily in the sporting arena type sequences where the action is happening, and also provide a lot of the oomph in the soundtrack.
Special Features
There are no extras featured on this disc.
Ride Like a Girl wasn’t a film that I thought was geared toward me, but found myself nonetheless entirely invested in the characters and story. Thanks to some brilliant acting, it’s a film worth checking out in HD if you have the opportunity.
