Jockey - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Jockey



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
I’ve always been a huge fan of Clifton Collins Jr. ever since I remember first seeing him in Boondock Saints 2. He’s a fantastic character actor who just seems to get lost in his roles to the point where it’s very difficult to pinpoint where he ends and his character begins. It also doesn’t help that I grew up around horses, so I was more than a little eager to check out Jockey. I didn’t really know what to expect from the film as I only read the highlights and refused to watch the trailer until I viewed the film, but came away impressed with what was more of a character driven drama than I was expecting. It’s sweet, said, and doesn’t try to emotionally manipulate you with huge heart wrenching dramatic moments. Instead it acts as a slice of life film for an aging jockey who has to hand the reins to someone else.

Jackson Silva (Clifton Collins Jr.) is an aging jockey who has spent his life in the saddle. However, he’s starting to develop a tremor in his right side, and he’s getting up there in years. He’s hoping for a couple more good years in the saddle before he has to retire, but fate seems to be creeping up on his faster than he expected. Things seems to change for the better (and the worse) when he gets some double news. The first is that his trainer Ruth (Molly Parker) has bought a true blue winner for herself, meaning that SHE can finally rise to the status of owner, and he’s the jockey that’s going to take her there. The second comes in the form of Gabriel Boullait (Moises Arias), a young jockey who claims to be Jackson’s son.

Trying his best to get back into riding shape, Jackson is blind sided by this young jockey claiming to be his son. At first denying it, Jackson soon begins to bond with Gabriel and realizes that here is the one chance he has to impart his riding skills on to someone else. Unfortunately he also has to deal with the fact that his life long job of riding is coming to an end as his degenerative issue is getting worse and worse.

Jockey is a great story, and told through the lens of a very simple drama. There’s no massive heart strings being pulled, but there are a few narrative twists and turns. Instead the movie focuses on Jackson and Gabriel in a sort of A Star is Born situation. Jackson’s career IS coming to an end, and he has to learn a way to accept that fate. Gabriel’s star is just rising and he now has an opportunity to give someone the chance he had to fight and suffer for to get. The end result is a bitter sweet drama that ends on a high note due to the incredible performances of both Arias and Collins. Both men are stunning in their roles, but I was floored with how well Collins Jr. did with the craggy remains of a broken down jockey.

The story isn’t perfect, and has some pacing problems in the second act, but overall it’s a very pleasing movie that was shot impeccably. I really appreciated the high and tight focus during the races as well. It allowed the viewer to be completely lost in the emotive elements of the actors in that point and time instead of focusing on the exhilaration of the race itself. A technique that really surprised me when I saw it, but ended up loving its use by the end of the film.




Rating:

Rated R for Language




Video:

Jockey is not a flashy or stylistic film. By design it has a sort of muted and dusty color palate, with only brief splashes of bright colors. From what I can tell this is a digital shoot, and as such, a non flashy film like this has some noise level spikes, but otherwise great detailing. You can see the stitching on Collins Jr.’s jacket, bits of track dirt splashing into his face, and a general clarity that is overall excellent. Blacks are quite decent, but never incredibly deep and black, due to the low light and grim color saturation, but there is no major artifacting and the texture in the darker scenes is quite palpable. VERY solid looking encode and definitely well encoded.











Audio:

Sony’s 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is simple, concise, but a well done dramatic track that has spikes of energy. The rumbling of the horses hooves on the track for the few races shown throughout the film have some nice heavy pounding to them, but otherwise this is a very laid back track. Dialog is crisp and cleanly located up front where it should be, and the surround mix is active with the score and horse races. BUUUUUUUUUT, this is really a track that lives in the front of the room, with wispy score driven elements and a LOT of dialog. Nothing inherently wrong with it at all, just a simple and quiet dramatic track that checks off all the proper check boxes, but doesn’t have the source elements in the story to really require a ton from it.












Extras:

• Deleted Scenes
• Behind the Scenes featurettes:
• Previews
• Original trailer

Final Score: ​

Jockey is a somber and moody drama about passing the torch. It’s not a Seabiscuit style of horse race movie to get the blood pumping and heart pounding while you cheer the horse on to victory. Instead it’s a character driven drama about the older generation realizing that they’re at the end of their career, and the simplistic passing of the torch to the up and comers, all wrapped up in a simple family drama. The Blu-ray release is quite nice, with good audio, great video, but a rather meager array of extras. Definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of slow burn dramas.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Clifton Collins Jr., Molly Parker, Moises Arias, Logan Cormier, Vincent Francia, Marlon St. Julien
Directed by: Clint Bentley
Written by: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DVS
Subtitles: English SDH, English, French, Spanish
Studio: Sony Pictures
Rated: R
Runtime: 95 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: April 5th, 2022

Recommendation: Check it Out.

 

[Epoxy1]

I liked it as well Michael. Great job.