**Possible Spoilers**
This winner is FINALLY available in the US on DVD--truly a cause for celebration.
This is the true story of British jockey Bob Champion, stricken with cancer and facing near-certain death. Nearly everyone--even himself--writes him off as dead but the people closest to him give him the will to fight, and maybe live. John Hurt, Jan Francis, Edward Woodward, Ben Johnson, Kirstie Alley and the supporting cast are terrific; the steeplechase footage nearly blew out my speakers and knocked me out of my living room chair. Unlike other fine films in a similar vein (BRIAN'S SONG; BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY) this movie doesn't sanitize the details involved when cancer strikes and some passages are downright harrowing, but ultimately, you'll stand up and cheer.
This winner is FINALLY available in the US on DVD--truly a cause for celebration.
This is the true story of British jockey Bob Champion, stricken with cancer and facing near-certain death. Nearly everyone--even himself--writes him off as dead but the people closest to him give him the will to fight, and maybe live. John Hurt, Jan Francis, Edward Woodward, Ben Johnson, Kirstie Alley and the supporting cast are terrific; the steeplechase footage nearly blew out my speakers and knocked me out of my living room chair. Unlike other fine films in a similar vein (BRIAN'S SONG; BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY) this movie doesn't sanitize the details involved when cancer strikes and some passages are downright harrowing, but ultimately, you'll stand up and cheer.