Ruffian Movie is on

[Suffolk Shippers]

Originally Posted by Merlinsky

My mom didn't want to watch the movie and I tried to talk her into it. She won't even get a Barbaro Breyer or watch the Barbaro documentaries because of the memories of the Preakness...just thinking about the horse makes her sad, same with Ruffian. I try to spin it in terms of the greatness of their spirit and talk about how much good you can do by helping Barbaro's charity but things like that she just won't hear about.

I'm glad she didn't watch now. This would've made her queasy.

I watched the HBO Barbaro documentary this morning. Really sad, as expected, had me in a downer mood for a few hours.

As for the movie, I think Steve and others said it was terrible more than a few times, and thats how I viewed it going in. Was basically expecting a circus show of misproduction. I wasn't overly impressed, the story telling was mediocre, but Sam Shepard saved it.

[mes5107]

Just got back from Belmont, so I missed it. Does anybody know if they will re-air the movie?

[SilverRP]

I don't know, maybe I'm off base here, but I actually thought it was pretty good. I knew going in it was going to be sad, but I had to watch anyway. They really didn't need to get as graphic as they did and there were parts where I just about turned it off, but I do think they showed a side of horse racing that many people don't see. That is the side of the connections (especially trainers and assistants) and how much they care for their horses.

[onebadbeast]

Thought The Ending Was Sad, But The First Part Of The Movie ; The Writing Was Very Unbelievable. Like It Was Written By A High School Kid.

[Sightseek]

While I am an enormous fan of the pint-sized Jazil...don't you think they should have picked a racing scene for the cover of the DVD that was fairly anonomous and occured like 20 something years ago?!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:RuffianDVD.jpg

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

While I am an enormous fan of the pint-sized Jazil...don't you think they should have picked a racing scene for the cover of the DVD that was fairly anonomous and occured like 20 something years ago

It obvious what they were trying to do with that cover....

Everyone knows that the two most tragic events in the history of the Belmont Spring meet are Ruffian's breakdown, and that bum Jazil winning the Belmont.

I believe ESPN added bonus coverage of the '06 Belmont Stakes after the end of the movie. I guess their reasoning was that if seeing Ruffian break down doesn't leave you feeling fully depressed....watching Jazil sure will.

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

It obvious what they were trying to do with that cover....

Everyone knows that the two most tragic events in the history of the Belmont Spring meet are Ruffian's breakdown, and that bum Jazil winning the Belmont.

I believe ESPN added bonus coverage of the '06 Belmont Stakes after the end of the movie. I guess their reasoning was that if seeing Ruffian break down doesn't leave you feeling fully depressed....watching Jazil sure will.

I'm going to kick your arse.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Stop turning me on.

[Riot]

I thought it a typically marvelous Sam Shepard performance, showing how much Whitely loved this horse and the sport.

Whoever played Mike Bell was good - and the guy who plays Minnor the groom - hey, he was Seabiscuits groom, too! (seems this actor has found a niche role)

Yeah, it was technically amaterish regarding the racing and barn scenes, the vet hospital scenes, etc; and the horses they used were quite distracting as they were a bit ... common (they showed a closeup of "Ruffians" leg, the hairy horse leg had skin eruptions! <g> And showing the vet talking to Nack when he just walks up and asks about Ruffian - at the end of her 2-year-old year: "Yes, hairline fracture" - I about died!)

The horses were distracting to me, as TB's fit and on the muscle are just incredibly beautiful and awesomely powerful, people seeing them up close in a paddock for the first time are always amazed ... but I know I'm a hard audience to please in that respect.

I didn't think the closeup of a cannon bone collapsing through into the dirt of the track was needed, but they didn't dwell on it, and I think for the general public watching, having to know how irreversibly severely this filly was injured, it served it's brief, one-second purpose.

They avoided alot of the horribleness of that night - her shock, her lack of stabilization during surgery, the truely rough way she awoke from anesthesia and what happened then that caused her euthanasia, etc.

It was not sensationalized in the least. Very respectful to the filly and her connections.

I thought the nicest part of the film was at the end under closing credits, they showed film of the real Ruffian, winning her races, getting bathed, etc. That was lovely.

Horse racing needs every bit of "open" exposure it can get. I think this helped.

[westcoastinvader]

Originally Posted by Riot

I thought it a typically marvelous Sam Shepard performance, showing how much Whitely loved this horse and the sport.

Whoever played Mike Bell was good - and the guy who plays Minnor the groom - hey, he was Seabiscuits groom, too! (seems this actor has found a niche role)

Yeah, it was technically amaterish regarding the racing and barn scenes, the vet hospital scenes, etc; and the horses they used were quite distracting as they were a bit ... common (they showed a closeup of "Ruffians" leg, the hairy horse leg had skin eruptions! <g> And showing the vet talking to Nack when he just walks up and asks about Ruffian - at the end of her 2-year-old year: "Yes, hairline fracture" - I about died!)

The horses were distracting to me, as TB's fit and on the muscle are just incredibly beautiful and awesomely powerful, people seeing them up close in a paddock for the first time are always amazed ... but I know I'm a hard audience to please in that respect.

I didn't think the closeup of a cannon bone collapsing through into the dirt of the track was needed, but they didn't dwell on it, and I think for the general public watching, having to know how irreversibly severely this filly was injured, it served it's brief, one-second purpose.

They avoided alot of the horribleness of that night - her shock, her lack of stabilization during surgery, the truely rough way she awoke from anesthesia and what happened then that caused her euthanasia, etc.

It was not sensationalized in the least. Very respectful to the filly and her connections.

I thought the nicest part of the film was at the end under closing credits, they showed film of the real Ruffian, winning her races, getting bathed, etc. That was lovely.

Horse racing needs every bit of "open" exposure it can get. I think this helped.

Nice post. I'm certain the movie had more than redeeming qualities. I just didn't have the nads to watch it.

I saw the match race live on TV, and I read the book.

That was more than enough for me to handle for this lifetime.

[paisjpq]

I thought it was pretty bad overall...Sam Shepard was great (but really when isn't he)...like Riot the horses bothered me, they all had kind of rough coats and just didn't look the part...the CSI-style graphic depiction of her leg snapping was over the top IMO, but perhaps Riot is right in that it paints a clearer picture to the general public....who knows, I just know that I didn't need to see it.
but I also think that racing needs any and all coverage it can get and I hope millions watched.

I DID love all the old newsreel footage of the real Ruffian that they showed at the end...that was great.