Customer Reviews

The First Saturday in May (Private Home Use DVD)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

(Note: originally reviewed February 2008.)

The First Saturday in May (The Hennegan Brothers, 2008)

Sometimes synchronicity works in mysterious ways. The Hennegan Brothers set out to film a documentary about trainers trying to get their horses to the Kentucky Derby (of 40,000 foals born in the U.S. Every year, a maximum of twenty make it to the Derby), and they happened to choose the year that spawned one of the most-followed sports stories of the new century: Barbaro. Talk about lucking out.

Despite this being a movie about the Kentucky Derby, it's far less about the horses than it is about the humans. The movie focuses on the trainers of six horses who are on the Derby trail: Lawyer Ron (Bob Holthus), Achilles of Troy (Frank Amonte, Jr.), Brother Derek (Dan Hendricks), Jazil (Kieran McLaughlin), and Barbaro (Michael Matz). The Hennegan Brothers spend a good deal of time in the shedrow and on the backstretch with the trainers and their families, just talking horses. It's the personalities of the trainers, and the stories surrounding them, that make this movie so watchable. We do get to see highlights from the races that get the horses into the Derby, but the movie doesn't really focus on the horses until the Derby itself, at which point we get a condensed version of the post-Derby Barbaro saga that everyone who's ever watched two minutes of ESPN seemed to follow.

It's probably the faintest possible criticism, maybe even a left-handed compliment, to say that a movie should have been longer. That's the case here; as much as I enjoyed the stories behind the horses, they came in a manner that seemed a bit on the impressionist side. Great approach for making a horror movie. Not so much a documentary. And it would have been nice to get a little more focus on the horses; it is, after all, a movie about getting to the Derby. (At the very least, full films of the races shown would have been nice.) When the movie does focus on the races the horses need to run to make bank for the Derby, it gets somewhat choppy. Trying to follow six horses in a ninety-seven minute film is bound to do that. A two-hour running time might have worked better. (Brad Hennegan said the original cut of the movie is three and a half hours long; I'd give my right arm for a copy of that cut.) Still, it's a minor annoyance; this is a movie well worth watching for horse fans (and, judging by the reactions of some of the audience, who made it clear in pre-film chatter they didn't know from racing, even for non-horse fans).

The movie's been stumping along the festival circuit, but it will be getting a nationwide release on April 18th. Check it out-- it's worth it. ****

After watching this film I can see why it received multiple awards. I felt like I had an all-access pass to the barns of some of the best trainers in the business. From the backstretch barns at Aqueduct to the Derby itself, this film covers it all. Not only the stories of the horses, but the stories of the people who work with the horses - from the amazing story of Michael Matz, to the tragedy that befell Dan Hendricks, to the workmanlike Dale Romans and Frank Amote (and their sons), to the racetrack lifer Bob Holthus. I recommend this film to all who wish to see what really goes on behind the scenes on the road to the "First Saturday in May"!

If you want to learn about what it takes to get into the Kentucky Derby and if you enjoy watching beautiful horses move at their true speed, this movie is for you!

At the beginning of playing the dvd, I was disappointed and couldn't understand why it was rated so highly. It wasn't long before I was so glad I purchased it. It is quite an emotional and exciting ride.

I think it's a must see for all racing enthusiasts and horse lovers. I'm certainly going to watch it again and probably more than once.

Great story about the Kentucky Derby. Mostly about the best five horses in 2006. All handicappers will enjoy this movies and horse lovers as well. Highly recommend.

I've been watching the Kentucky Derby since I was ten years old. Honestly, I stopped watching the races after Barbaro's breakdown in the Preakness which is a tragic part of this documentary. There are many issues regarding the ethics of how we (humans) use and interact with other living creatures on this planet of ours, one of them being (obviously) the thoroughbred horse. If (huge "IF") these horses are "correct" in type and temperament, they WANT to run, they NEED to run, but WHY should they? Larger question than I can answer and certainly not part of the review of a DVD.

Happily (for me, anyway) Barbaro's breakdown was NOT part of this DVD; bad enough we already know the tragic outcome. What WAS part of it was a brief interlude with Barbaro (then recovering, just prior to his euthanasia) and an owner, who seemed genuinely concerned and obviously spent an enormous amount of money to save this horse's life. I wonder what happened to Achilles of Troy, who also broke down (with a torn tendon) during one of the races portrayed: did his owners KILL HIM (i.e., euthanize) because of this injury? There are many, many owners who DO just this: use the horse with obvious and ubiquitous threat of serious injury then end its life when its "racing career" is over. This is an indictment of our species, in my opinion.

If you have an interest in horse racing, then you MUST know how important the Kentucky Derby is to everyone involved. This documentary was exceptionally well done, despite the heart rending conclusion: WOULD Barbaro have achieved the Triple Crown? Jazil was a come-from-behind horse and loved the distance of the Belmont: WOULD he have beat Barbaro because of these things? We'll never know.

I've tried two DVDs of this documentary, and neither one will play in its entirety on my (Sony) DVD player. They get just about to the "Kentucky" section, then hang up and refuse to play or fast forward. Finally ended up downloading a copy on iTunes to be able to watch the film. The documentary itself is very good, and I think would be interesting even to people who don't follow horse-racing. Rather than buy a DVD, I would suggest renting or borrowing it first to see if the DVD will play on your player.

I ordered this book for a friend and he was very pleased. I was happy that it came a quick as it did. Thanks.