Benjamin Marquet's LADS & JOCKEYS opens for a theatrical run in New York City

Lads into jockeys might be a better title for LADS & JOCKEYS, the 2008 documentary just now opening here in the USA that tracks a bunch of boys and girls (though we see little of the girls) around 14 years of age, as they are educated -- via a special boarding school in Chantilly, a small village outside of Paris -- in the joys and pains of possibly becoming a jockey. As one trainer not so pleasantly puts it, "They call these kids 'apprentice jockeys' but 'apprentice stable lad' is more like it."  And it's true: They clean the stables, groom the horses, and do a load of other chores -- but few of them, it seems, will make the grade as full-blown jockeys.

Directed by Benjamin Marquet, shown at left, the film focuses on three boys: Steve, Florian and Flavien (shown below) -- though only the last of these is called by name often enough during the film so that viewers will know him. Flavien (shown at left, below) also seems to get the most screen time, for reasons that become apparent as the movie rolls along. He's certainly got the best face of the three -- and maybe the best form, as well.

The film's sweetest scene, however, is given to that freckle- shouldered, red-headed kid, shown at right, above, as he's on a cell phone with, first, his dad, and then his mom.  The three boys make a trip to the big city in one scene, and to the racetrack, where they even place bets. (Can 14-year-olds do this legally in France? Evidently so.)

In addition to some interesting archival footage interspersed throughout (the film's beginning features Eddie Constantine talking about how much he loves doing deals, making money and horse racing), much of the film is given over to the boys being trained, with emphasis on the horses' well being, rather than the jockeys'. "Think about the horse -- not yourself!" one boy is told. We go to a stud farm, as well, and learn about the importance of good breeding -- only to have the rug pulled from under this importance by the final few words on the subject.

While the training sessions can be exhausting, the horses are indeed gorgeous, and anyone who's a horse lover will probably want to see the movie, as will those interested in where jockeys come from, or those who simply love all things French.

"You're on horseback: Man's greatest conquest!" notes the head trainer early on. Someone might want to respond, "Well, there was that time we sent men to the moon...." But why quibble. Horses are gorgeous creatures, and France is always a lovely place to visit.

Lads & Jockeys, from Music Box Films, in French with English subtitles, and a shade too long at a running time of 100 minutes, opens Friday, December 2, in New York City at the Cinema Village, and on December 16 at the Music Box Theater in Chicago. Further playdates might be in the offing, though this one may be a tad too esoteric to warrant a much larger limited release.

Disney's SECRETARIAT wins by three hairs, thanks to Malkovich, Martindale and Lane

If you are going to make movies in paint-by-numbers fashion (and how long has it been since Disney did much else?), then you'd best use thick, rich paint with which to cover those numbers from view. Movie-wise, that paint can be provided in a variety of ways: with witty, sparkling, sophisticated dialog (I'm having trouble remembering the last time Disney did that); using inventive, original visuals (Julie Taymor is awfully good at this); and maybe, easiest of all, hiring top-notch performers able to create memorable characters out of ordinary descriptive material -- if not practically from thin air.

In casting Diane Lane (above, left) in the leading role in SECRETARIAT, which the studio clearly hopes will be the new decade's Seabiscuit, and then choosing John Malkovich to play the horse trainer, along with crack character actress Margo Martindale (shown above, right) for the role of the smart, righteous, right-hand gal (Thelma Ritter might have essayed it a few decades back), the studio has played its hand quite smartly. These three seasoned pros rarely, if ever, misstep -- and they certainly don't do so here. In fact, they bring welcome intelligence, warmth, humor -- even occasional quirkiness -- to otherwise standard fodder.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing at all bad about Secretariat. So far as screenplay (Mike Rich, who wrote The Rookie) and direction (Randall Wallace, shown at left, of We Were Soldiers) are concer-ned, this is a serviceable, journey-man effort that will get a main-stream audience where it wants to go in exactly two hours and without undue jostling. Each time a problem comes up -- and there are plenty of these,  involving family, money, horse training, the role of women, even death -- it is handled properly and resolved neatly. Sometimes even, as in the scene of the firing of a sleazy trainer, this is executed with a good deal of bridled passion.

Yet over time, this "neatness" tends to drain suspense (forget about the off-hand, problematic quirks of every-day reality) from the proceedings. This sense of life run through the blender and pre-digested is what often distinguishes (if that's quite the right word) Disney's and other mainstream movies. Even the outcome of the horse races (there are three all-important ones) is rather predictable, though I admit to enjoying the spectacle of thumping hooves, crowds cheering and bright, colorful visuals flashing by.

Ms Lane brings great resolve and strength to her role of daughter and heiress to a down-on-its-luck horse ranch, while Makovich (shown at right) has great fun with his character, a man hired, haltingly, to train the horse that will eventually become known as the film's title. And how lovely to see Ms Martindale in a major role again, instead of in one of her usual small but choice character parts. She has not had a role this important since she played that postal worker on a Paris vacation in Alexander Payne's lovely, final and perfect episode from Paris, Je t'aime, for which she ought to have won (or at least been nominated for) Best Supporting Actress. (If you've never seen that film, do.) Well, maybe she'll get an "Oscar" nod this time around -- if only for the choice moment in which she gifts Ms Lane's character with words to live by during especially trying times. (The movie might have used more of this kind of healthy, humorous cynicism.)

In the very good supporting cast, you'll find lots of familiar faces -- from James Cromwell (as a competitive buyer for the best horses), Dylan Walsh (as Lane's long-suffering and mildly sexist hubby), Dylan Baker (as her a bit too know-it-all brother), Scott Glenn (as her ailing father), Nelsan Ellis (above, left, with Ms Lane as the kindly stable boy who tends the horse) and -- providing a welcome dose of high-energy nastiness -- Nestor Serrano (as the smart-ass owner of a competing stallion). Technical credits, by the way, are first-rate. This is often an extremely beautiful movie to view.

Secretariat, from Walt Disney Pictures, opens this Friday, October 8, just about everywhere.  Click here -- then enter your zip code next to Tickets and Showtimes -- to find a theater near you.