50 to 1

This fact-based story revolves around Mine That Bird, the unheralded gelding who pulled off a huge upset by winning the 2009 Kentucky Derby, and then followed up with a second place show in the Preakness and third in the Belmont Stakes. Although the script works hard trying to give the horse a rambunctious personality, the emphasis here is really on the human folk surrounding the animal, all of them (naturally) terribly colorful types, ranging from the rowdy New Mexico cowboy owners (Christian Kane, William Devane) to the hardscrabble trainer (Skeet Ulrich) to the last-minute-replacement jockey (Calvin Borel, playing himself). The underlying message here is that Mine That Bird's seemingly miraculous win represented the victory of the “common man” over the arrogant elite of the horse-racing world, who were contemptuous of a horse that came to the Derby with an undistinguished record and was accompanied to Kentucky by a bunch of outsiders who were obviously out of place in such a tony environment. One can't blame 50 to 1 for its predictable ending, of course, but true or not, this earnest film feels cliché-ridden. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD extras include a “making-of” featurette (30 min.), a blooper reel (2 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a so-so film.] (F. Swietek)