Jackson Silva (Clifton Collins Jr) is an accomplished horse jockey nearing retirement.  The track has not been kind on his body over the years resulting in a myriad of serious injuries, but there is still a flicker of passion left in his tired bones.  He and his trainer, Ruth (Molly Parker) have their eyes set on one final championship win, but a young jockey, Gabriel (Moises Arias), enters the race and changes the whole dynamic between the tried-and-true pair. 

Released by Sony Pictures Classics, Jockey is a reflective work directed by Clint Bentley and co-written with Greg Kwedar.  The Alabama sunset-soaked feature, while only 94 minutes, feels like a long lap, given the heavy nature of the script which offers very little reprieve.  The drama at the core of the film continues to build over the course of the narrative, but the unique thing here is the behind-the-scenes look at the sport offered to us by the first-time feature director. 

Jockey trots on seldom-traveled ground in modern film by exploring competitive horse racing.  It is often seen through an inspirational lens as in Dream Horse (2021) or Secretariat (2010), but here Bently and Kwedar deliver an intense character study wrapped up in a sporting film.  The glitz and glam of race day are stripped away, embracing the muddiness of Seabiscut (2003), but even still, Jockey stands alone in what it is trying to accomplish here; notably, though, it is also the only work of fiction of the titles cited so has more freedom to move.  If anything, Jockey is most similar to The Mustang (2019) in that it is not a direct biopic, but it is heavily influenced by real stories of people who have lived in the world the film is seeking to recreate. 

These more personal fought sports films allow for a lot of introspection as they are just as much stories about man vs man as they are man vs himself.  Team movies are inherently exciting and inspiring as it is the group coming together to meet a common goal, but the individual sport places all the success of a win – and consequently, the blame of defeat – on the shoulders of a single person who now must strive to do better.  Where Jockey, again, begins to carve out its own path, is that while the championship looms over the narrative and gives us our ticket into this world, the real work which Silva is doing is not on the track, but off it. 

Early on in the film, we learn that Gabriel has been following Silva from track to track and he finally musters up the courage to confront him with the news that he is Silva’s son.  The disbelief begins to subside and ultimately Silva begins to accept the fact and resolves to fill the role of mentor for the young jockey helping in his exercises and providing him with the knowledge and gear needed to give Gabriel the extra edge on the track.  The dynamic is a bit strange and makes for an uncomfortable second act as it takes some time before Silva really warms up to Gabriel and the two are not so standoffish.  Once developed the chemistry is quite sweet and tender to watch as Silva resolves to step up and be the father he denied this boy from growing up with as a part of his life.  Like any budding relationship both on or off-screen, there will be growing pains, and this is no exception.  Unfortunately, the pacing here is the weakest part of the script which really muddies the drama of the story, and for all of Jockey’s strengths in opening this often-overlooked facet in the world of sports, as a narrative, it stumbles. 

Jockey is, despite those few flaws, still a film with a lot of merits and brings the promise of a strong career ahead of both Bently and Kwedar.  On-screen, both Collins Jr and Arias deliver strong performances and share an exceptionally pure moment in the penultimate sequence of the film.  The team behind the film treats the characters and their environment with the respect they deserve which is very nice to see.  The script struggles to find what it wants to be – a character study of a man who is seeking redemption in the twilight years of his life and career, or an investigation into the unspoken physical cost of championship horse racing – so it tries to do both and does not particularly excel at either, but the film has so much heart and soul that these structural shortcomings are easily enough overlooked and the passion of the filmmakers shines through.