The movie “Dreamer” was made in 2005, it is under the category of sport/drama. It’s one of my personal favorites because of the story it tells. I think that the actors did very well at portraying the characters based on the storyline. The plot is also interesting and leads up to an amazing ending. The movie continues to keep you interested and wanting to know what happens next the entire way through to the end.
The movie is about Ben Crane (Kurt Russell), a horse trainer who is struggling to connect with his precocious daughter, Cale (Dakota Fanning). But then a horse by the name of Soñador suffers a broken leg after its evil owner (David Morse) races her despite Ben’s advice. Rather than put his client’s injured horse down, Ben saves Sonador and welcomes Cale into the family business. They train Soñador to race again as grouchy but kind-hearted Grandpa (Kris Kristofferson) lends his encouragement. There are sad and happy parts to the movie but the overall ending is worth it all.
The film is based on the true story of a thoroughbred mare, Mariah’s Storm. She was a promising filly who was being pointed for the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Fillies in 1993, however, she broke her cannon bone (which is mentioned in the film). She went through a long and hard recovery, then came back stronger and won some graded stake races. She then later raced in Breeders Cup Distaff in 1995 and placed ninth. She was owned by Thunderhead Farms and trained by the father and son team of Don Von Hemel and Donnie K. Von Hemel. Mariah’s Storm is now known for being the dam of Giant’s Causeway.
In the movie, when Cale and Ben go to Ashford Stud to check out the studs, the stallions they are naming, such as Fusaichi Pegasus, Giant’s Causeway, Mariah’s Storm, Johannesburg and Grand Slam, are real horses who actually stand at Ashford. However, the actual stallions were not used in filming. Stand-ins were placed in their stalls instead. In the scene where Soñador is considered for the Breeder’s Cup, Prince Sadir says that his horse “Rapid Cat is sired by Storm Cat, the best sire in the world.” Coincidentally, Mariah’s Storm (on whom Soñador is based) was bred to Storm Cat.
Now the movie is not copying exactly how the true story went. It is still amazing that the director could come up with this idea and play it out extremely well. I absolutely love this film and it’s so inspirational because it shows that just because something bad happens you can redeem yourself and get better. It also shows that you can come back and do even better than before, you just need to believe in yourself and have people around you who support you and will help. Something else that is just so amazing to me is that after this movie was made, Kurt Russell bought Dakota Fanning a real Palomino horse, which she named Goldie.
