"The Fiddling Horse" is a charming little movie, well constructed by Wallis and boosted by solid performances from a cast of capable performers who may not be marquee regulars but nevertheless know their craft."
"THE FIDDLING HORSE"
This movie was brought to my attention via a Facebook post by a friend of mine, Paula Lindberg, an actress I met via my association with filmmakers Jen and Sylvia Soska. Lindberg had a small but vital role in the Soskas' "American Mary" and I met her when she attended screenings of Soska films "See No Evil 2" and "Vendetta."
In "The Fiddling Horse," Lindberg has a major role as Leslie Heart, a woman who has been born into a family rooted into the Southern world of unique heritage and charm. Upon the passing of her mother, Leslie now is in line to be accepted into the exclusive Ladies Who Lunch, a group of high society women led by the snobby Ethel Truman (Alley Mills, the mom from "The Wonder Years"), from the family of the powerful state treasurer.
Despite her heritage, Leslie finds she is not totally welcome in this group of privilege. For one, she is not married -- just living with her boyfriend Philip Ainsworth (J. Elvis Weinstein), a man struggling to maintain his timeshare business that is trying to improve its image by changing the term "timeshare" to "fractional ownership."
"The Fiddling Horse" is the brain child of C.J. Wallis, who wrote the screenplay and directed the movie. It is only 70 minutes long and takes a jab at high society with its gentle humor.
When Leslie, stewing because she knows her acceptance into this well-to-do realm is being met with some resistance, learns she has inherited a horse, she convinces Philip to explore the possibility of going into the horse racing business. Philip reluctantly goes along and upon a recommendation from a gambling co-worker Richard (Fiend), hooks up with Barry Bitterman (Andy Kindler), an aptly named former jockey, discredited and paranoid, barely surviving as a trainer.
Bitterman is a classic cynical con man, deep in debt, making things up on the fly and suitably able to talk naive Philip into a business deal to train and race the horse, named Some Like It Heart by Leslie. Bitterman drafts a short-tempered jockey, Bug Boy (Mitchell Murrill) to ride the horse.
Bitterman has a plan that is unscrupulous -- enter Some Like It Heart into a few races and have the horse finish last or close to it. Then as the odds climb against the horse winning, place heavy bets on the horse and allow it to run full force, leading to a big payoff via a victory. Like that is going to work.
Kindler is a hoot as Bitterman, a perpetual loser stumbling along as a person who thinks he can beat the system but is always on the brink of toppling over a cliff.
Lindberg and Weinstein present an interesting dynamic of a couple in which one must ask: How the heck can this work? Leslie is so focused on entitlement yet is hooked up with a man entrenched in a business that hardly is considered honorable and certainly looked upon with disdain among the people with whom Leslie seeks to be peers.
Weinstein's Philip is almost a tragic character, befuddled, devoted to Leslie but totally out of his league trying to match wits with the elite class he is being forced to join.
"The Fiddling Horse" is a charming little movie, well constructed by Wallis and boosted by solid performances from a cast of capable performers who may not be marquee regulars but nevertheless know their craft.
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