Ride Like a Girl

Michelle Payne is the youngest of ten children. Her mother died early and her father raised them alone; nearly everyone in the family rides. Michelle wants to be a jockey. Women jockeys are not given horses; owners find it risky and trainers do not choose them. For years she rides in small races, falls, suffers a serious injury and comes back. In 2015 she enters the Melbourne Cup on a horse nobody gives a chance. Rachel Griffiths directs. Teresa Palmer plays Michelle and Sam Neill her father. The event behind the narrative is real: Michelle Payne became the first woman jockey to win the Melbourne Cup, and the horse she won on was seen beforehand as a very long shot. Her brother Stevie Payne plays himself in the film; he works as a strapper and has Down syndrome. The speech she made after winning was much discussed at the time and appears in the film. The race scenes were shot on real tracks with real jockeys. Its limit is form; the narrative follows the classical sports film shape and the family's losses are passed over quickly. It did well at the box office in Australia. Who it is for: viewers who like sports films based on a real event. Who it is not for: it is predictable, the emotional register is high, and some sections are dry for anyone who does not follow racing.