Critic Reviews

• Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

  The film, a behind-the-scenes look at several trainers' efforts to get their horses into fighting shape for the brief contest, lacks the depth or context to make it compelling.

• John Hartl, Seattle Times

  The movie has more heart than art, but it's unfailingly genuine.

• J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

  The video is dully and cheaply shot, but the Hennegans are lifelong racing fans with family ties to the sport, and their infatuation with the derby is infectious.

• Sean Howe, Entertainment Weekly

  The First Saturday in May digs in its heels with acute portraits of six trainers, including a paralyzed ex-cyclist in California and an MS-stricken Lexington native who works for the royal family of Dubai.

• Variety Staff, Variety

  Granted sweep and stature by the triumph of the legendary Derby winner Barbaro and the big shadow cast by his tragic destiny, pic successfully elaborates on the sorts of color pieces that traditionally precede the race on television.

• Michael Esposito, Chicago Tribune

  The horses' quest for the Kentucky Derby is supposed to be the big-picture idea, but there isn't a whole lot of horse footage--too much standing around in stalls waiting.

• Michele Kenner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

  The filmmakers emphasize the disparate personalities of the trainers, who can taste victory with every stride of the beautiful animals with whom they work, groom and feed.

• William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

  It sure inspired me to make plans for Emerald Downs.

• Lewis Beale, Film Journal International

  It's got its share of characters, plenty of triumphs, and a Shakespearean tragedy at its core. When it comes to drama, that's a hard combination to beat.

• Adam Fendelman, HollywoodChicago.com

  From the breezy essence of Michael Matz to the frankness of Frank Amonte, each trainer has a story and ambition to get to the top. The goal of the filmmakers is not only to promote their favorite sport but to bring more people into the power of it.

• Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press

  The reason I don't love the Kentucky Derby documentary The First Saturday in May is because it's about a bunch of dull people who keep blocking our view of beautiful, fascinating horses.

• Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle

  As the filmmakers tell us at the beginning, 40,000 Thoroughbreds are born every year, but only 20 make it to the Kentucky Derby. Thus starts the movie's confusion about whether it is a documentary about the horses or their human competitors.

• Chad Greene, Boxoffice Magazine

  Audiences watching the scene in which Matz coaxes his young son into petting the powerful horse will be every bit as touched emotionally as the horse on screen is physically.

• Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews

  ...once the Hennegans begin their build to the final race, everything false into place with a quickening intensity towards 'the most exciting two minutes in sports.'

Read all 14 critic reviews