Fantasy fulfillment for those wondering what would happen if Ma & Pa Kettle hauled Mr. Ed to Del Mar and pulled up a stall adjacent to the high-hatted muckety mucks. This effortlessly charming documentary focuses on a group of 23 pub patrons who invest in a Welsh cocktail waitress’ dream of breeding a racehorse for a sport that doesn’t take kindly to commoners. It’s made clear throughout the picture that the health and well-being of the horse, named Dream Alliance, takes precedence over riches. Why then does writer-director-sadist Louise Osmond — banking on sentiment and an audience’s unfamiliarity with the outcome — wait until the end of the picture to hint for even a moment that DA might have taken up residence in the big glue factory in the sky? Call me spoiler, but rather than falling prey to cheap manipulation, isn’t it better to know going in that the fortunate nag is currently enjoying a better quality of life than you and I? (2015) — Scott Marks
This movie is not currently in theaters.