For grownups, the best thing about Frederik Du Chau's little children's film is Bruce Greenwood, who acts opposite talking animals with the commitment of someone auditioning for a "Seabiscuit" sequel . . .Zebras are, apparently, headstrong and skittish, making them fairly lousy choices for movie stars, let alone racehorses. But enough of an endearingly earnest spirit permeates this low-key kiddie flick that by the end, watch-checking chaperones may actually find themselves rooting for the underdog. And I don't even mean Bruce Greenwood.
Elizabeth Weitzman NY Daily News 1/14/05

As Nolan, Bruce Greenwood seems to belong to a Kentucky setting, even though he hails from Canada and the movie was shot in South Africa. Since playing John F. Kennedy in "Thirteen Days," Mr. Greenwood has emerged as one of the least affected and most accomplished film actors on the English-speaking screen.
Gary Arnold Washington Times 1/14/05

Unlike a lot of CGI-heavy films, "Racing Stripes" features good acting by the humans. Greenwood ("Thirteen Days") adopts a soft Kentucky accent and brings fatherly warmth and worry to scenes with Panettiere.
Carla Meyer San Francisco Chronicle 1/14/05

With so many scene-stealing co-stars, human players deserve credit simply for not being entirely upstaged. Greenwood and Panettiere infuse their roles with appealing sincerity...
Joe Leydon Variety 1/10/05

Among the human actors, Mr. Greenwood seems to have parachuted in from another movie - he plays the wary, resigned Walsh with a nuanced elegance that's likely to be lost on four-foot-tall audience members giggling at pony poop.
Dana Stevens, New York Times 1/14/05

Greenwood is a great actor, and, although the script doesn't deserve it, he gives it his all as a man torn between his past and the future of his daughter.
Linda Cook Quad-City Times 1/19/05

As for the human beings, they're much better than you might expect in a feel-good kids flick. The underappreciated Greenwood, so solid in movies such as "Thirteen Days" in which he played John F. Kennedy, brings warmth and resonance to the role. He also has a believable father-daughter dynamic in his scenes with Panettiere...
Christy Lemire MSNBC News / Associated Press 1/12/05

The humans (Greenwood and Panettiere) aren't given much to do in the first half of the movie, except to fawn over Stripes. But when everyone realizes the zebra's uncanny speed, things turn predictable with a Let's Head to the Races plotline...Surprisingly, the somewhat maudlin back story of Greenwood's character -- a former horse trainer whose wife died in a riding accident, which has made him wary of his daughter's desire to race Stripes -- isn't as sappy as it sounds. In fact, the few scenes of Greenwood's Nolan Walsh gently training the zebra to race with the Thoroughbreds are touching, in a we-so-know-where-this-is-going way.
Melissa Ruggieri Richmond Times-Dispatch 1/12/05

Bruce Greenwood, a terrific actor who finds himself mired in far too many second-rate movies, is the star attraction.... He plays Nolan Walsh, a Kentucky farmer and former racehorse trainer still reeling several years after the death of his wife in a riding accident. Hayden Panitierre plays his daughter Channing, a teen who falls for a little zebra her dad found left in a basket on the road by a circus troupe distracted by a flat tire..... The film’s highlights are Greenwood, who manages to make us care about Nolan.....Greenwood really is remarkable, and he works well with Panitierre, creating a believable father-daughter relationship. While the sentiment here is simple stuff that we’ve seen a million times before, Greenwood’s ability to convey deep feeling with his eyes or a subtle twitch of the nose adds far more depth than the rest of this movie can support. After all, Greenwood’s awesome acting is surrounded by drivel so bad that I can’t even get keen about the film’s well-intentioned efforts to comment on racism and intolerance (the horses’ reaction to Stripes is awfully similar to the reaction of conservative whites to people of colour invading their domains).
Brian Webster, Apollo Guide 1/12/05

Greenwood has just the right dash of melancholy to Panettiere's boisterous determination. Their relationship, each coming around slowly to really understand the other is the best thing in the film, investing some real emotion and genuine warmth into the proceedings. If it had been the movie's focus, we might be talking minor classic here.
Andrea Chase Killer Movie Reviews 1/15/05

The human cast is solid: Hayden Panettiere ("Ally McBeal") is appropriately spunky as a teenage girl who longs to ride her zebra in the big race, while reliable Bruce Greenwood ("Thirteen Days") is actually quite soulful as her over-protective father, a proud Kentucky farmer.
Athens Banner-Herald 1/14/05

If anything is objectionable in Racing Stripes, it is the presence of Bruce Greenwood. Greenwood, a talented character actor who single- handedly elevates this movie to marginal respectability with his subtle, quiet screen presence, is much too good for this movie.
Craig Roush Kinnopio's Movie Reviews 1/14/05

As such, there are two distinct stories going on - one about the little zebra who could; the other about an overly protective father who, eventually, must come to grips with his tragic past and set his smart and capable daughter free to do what she loves - riding. This latter plot line will have more resonance for the older kids and adults in the audience. … … Usually, in a kids' film with talking animals as the focus, the adult cast tends to be overshadowed by lovable critters and copious special F/ X. Here, the human characters, led by Bruce Greenwood in a fully developed role as a man who suffered great loss and fears for his daughter, equate themselves well without competing with the non-human creatures.
Robin Clifford Reeling Reviews 1/14/05

Bruce Greenwood easily out-acts the rest of the cast who overact to the point of caricature.
Marie Asner The Phantom Tollbooth 1/9/05

The picture also boasts some strong talent in the human roles; it isn't often that you'll find actors as seasoned as Bruce Greenwood and E. Emmet Walsh gracing a kidflick....The colt is taken up by Nolan Walsh (Greenwood, giving a performance perhaps too earnestly nuanced for the material), a farmer and erstwhile champion horse-trailer.
Frank Swietek One Guy's Opinion

The human actors - Panettiere, Greenwood, and Wendie Malick as a mean, rich racehorse owner - are all well-cast and believable, even if their roles aren't terribly deep.
Staci Layne Wilson Fantastica Daily

.. the human characters (Bruce Greenwood, Hayden Panettiere) go far in providing the predictable mayhem with a fair amount of heart.
Ellen Futterman St. Louis Post-Dispatch 1/14/05

The human stars do the best they can with the material. For veteran Bruce Greenwood (a respected character actor who most recently appeared as the villain in I, Robot) and child actor Hayden Panettiere (Raising Helen, Remember the Titans), it's a thankless job. They are constantly upstaged by the animals.
James Berardinelli Reel Views