JOCKEY

US 2021, 99 min Director Clint Bentley

Accomplished and aging jockey Jackson (Clifton Collins Jr.) is ready for another season on the racetrack. Ruth (Molly Parker), a trainer and longtime friend, has acquired a horse of her own that she and Jackson both feel certain is a champion. There’s just the matter of Jackson’s chronic health problems to deal with, as well as Gabriel (Moisés Arias), a young and promising rider who shows up claiming to be Jackson’s son. Shot on a live racetrack, director and co-writer Clint Bentley’s second feature is steeped in a realism that feels as authentic as a documentary, with beautiful photography and natural performances from Parker, Arias, the incomparable Collins, and a deep well of first-time actors. Jockey is a sober, funny, and touching portrait of a man living with the choices he’s made—or didn’t make—and the effects they have on everyone around him. –David Riedel