Ray Dokes (Luke Kirby) leaves prison to find most farms back home have been bought up by old nemesis bully land developer Sonny Stanton (Noam Jenkins). He starts working for poor old friend Pete Culpepper (Keith Carradine) on his horse farm. Ray's former love Etta Parr (Lisa Ray) refuses to sell to Sonny. Chrissie Nugent (Rachael Leigh Cook) is Pete's wild drunken jockey. Sonny is in gambling debts and has a thoroughbred stolen.
The film looks flat. Luke Kirby doesn't have big screen charisma. Nobody comes off looking good and I put most of it on director Leonard Farlinger. The performances are tired and weary. There is no energy. The movie has some great actors but they are either secondary or they struggle in the haze. The character Ray isn't good to root for either. He's screwing Chrissie right away but we're suppose to root for his star-crossed love for Etta. There are also a few too many side stories to the movie. The story has some potential but it's not realized here.