The Horse Whisperer (15 May 1998)
directed by Robert Redford
starring Robert Redford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sam Neill, Scarlett Johansson, Dianne Wiest, Chris Cooper, Cherry Jones, Kate Bosworth
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MPAA rating: Studio: Touchstone Pictures Script: Eric Roth, Richard LaGravenese Based on the book by: Nicholas Evans Music: Thomas Newman Running time: 160 minutes Tags: Connecticut; Drama; Family Crisis; horses; Montana; novel adaptation; ranching; Romance; tragedy Tactical strength: [5/10]
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for a disturbing accident scene
In order to enjoy The Horse Whisperer, you must meet at least five of the following six criteria: you like horses or movies about horses, you like to look at Robert Redford, you like movies with panoramic scenes of the American West, you like semi-tragic romance movies, and you are a woman. If you meet these criteria, then you will not even notice that 160 minutes passed by while watching The Horse Whisperer.
I only meet one of the criteria. I really enjoyed the panoramic scenes of Montana, but this one pleasure wasn't enough to keep me from sheer boredom about 45 minutes into the film.
The plot starts in Connecticut and goes something like this: Grace MacLean (Scarlett Johansson), teenage horse enthusiast, has an accident involving her horse and an 18-wheel truck. Grace looses a leg, and the vet wants to shoot the horse. Grace's mother, Annie (Kristin Scott Thomas), has heard of Tom Booker (Robert Redford), a "horse whisperer" who trains and cures horses without any of the old-style, break-the-horse's-will methods. So Annie drives to Tom's home in Montana, taking her resentful daughter and a nearly uncontrollable horse.
Now under Redford's direction, the film begins to blast you with its message: no one would need a psychiatrist if they would go to the West and consult with a horse-whispering cowboy philosopher. Not only is Tom able to cure the horse, but he knows just what to say and do to cure Grace and Annie. After hundreds of scenes that demonstrate Tom's omniscience, comes the final conflict: will Annie, who has fallen in love with Tom, leave her family and stay in Montana, or will she return to Connecticut? To tell you would give away the film's only mystery. (And Redford changes the movie's conclusion significantly from Nicholas Evans's conclusion in the book.)
Perhaps if someone other than Redford had directed this film, Redford's character hadn't seemed quite so omniscient, and the film had run 40 to 60 minutes shorter, I might have had a remote chance of liking The Horse Whisperer.
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