Page 2 January 6, 2022
Entertainment
Film Review Check It Out
Jockey is a Moving Look at the
Last Leg of the Race
By Ryan Rojas
In Jockey, riding a horse is where you’re
the freest. It’s when you’re off of the horse
where the real struggles come, where you must
confront the larger issues in life, such as the
decline of your physical health and perhaps
even the shortcomings of your own life.
These are the realities that the film’s writer/
director, Clint Bentley, knows well, having
grown up in the world of horse racing, as
a young boy, watching his father live as a
Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
jockey. It’s this reverential love and respect
for his late father’s life–a hard one–that makes
his feature film debut, Jockey, such a deeply
personal accomplishment.
Rather than center the film around the
adrenaline-pumping moments in the saddle,
Bentley focuses his directorial debut around the
life of a jockey who lives outside of racing–a
tough one lived on the backside of the racegrounds
which the career demands (think The
Wrestler here). This is the life that Jackson
(Clifton Collins Jr.) leads, a once-winning
jockey whose prime is now behind him, who
now struggles to keep up with the pack as
he enters the twilight of his career. It’s when
Jackson attempts to get in shape for one last
championship run that he is met with new
debilitations, forcing him to recognize that
the demands of the job may outpace what
he’s able to give.
Reflecting on one’s physical limitations is
also a ripe time to come to terms with one’s
personal life, which is what Jockey does,
and where it feels like it becomes a second
film–that of a father/son movie. When rookie
Gabriel (Moises Arias) arrives and approaches
Jackson–bearing a striking physical resemblance
to him–the two begin to foster a bond, in
which Jackson begins mentoring him while he
attempts to make his own final training run.
The connection created by Clifton Collins
Jr. and Moises Arias here is sincere, and Clint
Bentley captures it with tenderness. Family
is a central theme to Jockey, that of the one
we are given and the one that we make. In
another noteworthy recognition to the film,
Molly Parker also joins the story as Ruth,
Jackson’s horse trainer, providing another layer
of the makeshift family dynamic.
A decision that Clint Bentley makes that
gives Jockey its heartfelt effect is by blending
the actors into a very raw environment
in which they act opposite non-actors–real
jockeys who share their life’s stories, adding
incredible realism to this world (Chloé Zhao’s
The Rider comes to mind here). Scenes of
debilitated jockeys sharing their stories in
support group settings offer a continuous discovery,
more than a pre-written script could.
And moments like these–which Jockey has
throughout–allow you to buy into this world
so totally and completely.
Of final note here, is that the overall beauty
that Clint Bentley captures gives the film the
cinematic touch that it needs to transcend.
While the life of a jockey, living in a trailer
is totally unglamorous, stunning camerawork
by Adolpho Veloso captures beautiful moments
of early sunrises and dusk sunsets in brilliant
Ryan Rojas
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Once There Were Wolves
by Charlotte McConaghy
Reviewed by Mary Martes, Library
Clerk for the El Segundo Public Library
This debut follow-up has been eagerly
anticipated since the highly lauded first novel
“Migrations” by Charlotte McConaghy burst
its way onto bestseller lists. McConaghy is an
Australian writer with an interest in environmental
affairs. Set in a post-apocalyptic world
where wild animals are almost completely
extinct, “Migrations” followed a troubled young
woman on a torturous journey to find the last
migrating terns. In her new book, “Once There
Were Wolves” McConaghy again leads us into
the wilds with a fierce, conflicted heroine.
Inti Flynn is a renowned biologist who works
on projects to reintroduce gray wolves into
the wild and restore habitat. This rewilding
is a broader attempt to slow climate change.
Inti suffers from a rare neurological condition,
mirror-touch synesthesia. As she herself
describes it, “If I see it, I feel it, and for just
a moment I am them, we are one and their
pain or pleasure is my own.” After a traumatic
incident in Alaska involving her sister Aggie,
Inti moves them to the Scottish Highlands to
work on the Cairngorms Wolf Project. Fourteen
gray wolves are being reintroduced into
the Cairngorm Mountains which are bordered
by farm and ranch land. Gray wolves are indigenous
to the Scottish Highlands but were
driven out and exterminated hundreds of years
ago by villagers who wanted the land for grazing.
Descendants of these villagers still farm
and raise livestock on those same lands so
resistance to the Project is strong. Inti makes
friends, but also plenty of enemies.
Duncan MacTavish is a local born and bred.
He is also the police chief. Inti feels a visceral
connection to Duncan, but trust issues inhibit
a true relationship. Events conspire to lead the
two of them in a dance of doubt and suspicion.
When a prominent local turns up missing, the
town instantly blames the wolves. Without a
body or evidence however, there is no way to
be sure. There are plenty of people with motive,
including both Duncan and Inti. This gripping
mystery reveals the ghosts of the past they
have buried within themselves and leads to a
reckoning with an ending I never saw coming.
I was so taken with this novel; I began reading
it a second time as soon as I had finished
it. As an avid reader, I confess this is the first
time I have ever done that. The illustrative prose
puts you right into the beautiful landscape and
atmosphere of the misty, fog shrouded lochs
and mountains of the Scottish Highlands.
Charlotte McConaghy is a master of literary
fiction and deeply concerned about climate
change and its effects on the environment. She
uses her prodigious talent to bring attention to
the imminent danger facing our natural world.
I highly recommend both “Migrations” and
“Once There Were Wolves.”
To check out these and other 2021 noteworthy
titles, please stop by the El Segundo Public
Library. You can also find us online at www.
elsegundolibrary.org. •
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
Mary Martes
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See Film Review, page 4