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Two Texas cowboys head to Mexico in search of work, but soon find themselves in trouble with the law after one of them falls in love with a wealthy rancher's daughter
Epic tale of three brothers and their father living in the remote wilderness of 1900s USA and how their lives are affected by nature, history, war, and love.
A prospector sells his wife and daughter to another gold miner for the rights to a gold mine. Twenty years later, the prospector is a wealthy man who owns much of the old west town named ... See full summary »
A young man (Cruise) leaves Ireland with his landlord's daughter (Kidman) after some trouble with her father, and they dream of owning land at the big giveaway in Oklahoma ca. 1893. When ... See full summary »
A naive young woman comes to New York and scores a job as the assistant to one of the city's biggest magazine editors, the ruthless and cynical Miranda Priestly.
A poor and passionate young man falls in love with a rich young woman and gives her a sense of freedom. They soon are separated by their social differences.
Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial.
A British medical doctor fights a cholera outbreak in a small Chinese village, while also being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.
Director:
John Curran
Stars:
Catherine An,
Edward Norton,
Liev Schreiber
A teenage girl riding a horse is hit by a truck. To help heal her troubled/injured daughter, and horse, the mother takes them to Montana to recuperate at the ranch of a 'horse whisperer', a horse healer of mystical talents. The mother proceeds to fall in love with him, as well. Written by
Dan <fpdj@intergate.bc.ca>
Gulliver's protective bandaging changes from red to white (when he rears up). The bandages disappear when he breaks his ankle and slides down the bank but are present in the next shot. See more »
Ordinary People. A River Runs Through It. Quiz Show. With this track record, Robert Redford has proven himself not only to be one of the great modern American movie-makers, but one of the only actors to ever make a smooth -- not to mention impressive -- transition to the director's chair. And considering his success, one might worry that he'd make a misstep somewhere and back a sub par picture. Well, skeptics beware, because with The Horse Whisperer, Redford has secured his spot as an A-list director, and as a man who knows how to please his audience. Adapted from Nick Evan's best-selling novel, The Horse Whisperer depicts a New York family that is struck by tragedy when their daughter is involved in a horrific accident while riding her horse in the woods with a friend. Her friend is killed, and she is required to have her leg amputated; as for the horse, he is so severely traumatized that putting him down appears to be the only option. But the mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) refuses to watch another part of her life fall apart before her eyes, and demands that the horse be kept alive. She examines every source on horse healing, and learns of a strange treatment known as horse whispering, which deals with the spiritual healing of the animal. By this point, you should be able to figure out where the plot goes: she contacts the "horse whisperer," drags the horse (and her daughter) to a ranch in Montana, and through the experience they all find emotional healing. And while this might seem like a recipe destined for sappy Lifetime melodrama, Redford somehow makes it work. Not because the story is particularly unique, but simply because his characters actually feel real to us -- which is where so many other similar movies have failed. Thomas is superb as the controlling (yet confused) mother; instead of being portrayed as some manipulative matriarch, we actually sympathize with her situation. In fact, we sympathize with everyone's situation. Thomas eventually falls in love with the horse whisperer himself (played by Redford), and when she ultimately has to choose between him and her husband (played by Sam Neill), the dilemma is not boiled down to mere preference. Neill is a loving, caring father, and in the most moving scene of the picture, he declares his love for his wife yet allows her -- and even encourages her -- to follow her own heart. As the daughter, new-comer Scarlett Johannson gives a terrific performance, and with a supporting cast that includes Chris Cooper and Dianne Wiest, the ensemble is flawless. The film is deliberately paced, yet it never drags; instead, it uses its length (which runs close to three hours) to its own advantage, conveying the rare grace and tenderness that we saw in A River Runs Through It and Ordinary People. Each and every character is filled with an emotional depth rarely seen in mainstream romance epics, and the scenes that involve the horse being healed manage to be both compelling and powerful in spite of their contrived nature (which is really an accurate description of the entire picture). And even though it might not hit every emotional chord it tries to strike, The Horse Whisperer does so much right that it puts all the other wanna-be epics to shame. Here's to a future classic.
Grade: A-
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Ordinary People. A River Runs Through It. Quiz Show. With this track record, Robert Redford has proven himself not only to be one of the great modern American movie-makers, but one of the only actors to ever make a smooth -- not to mention impressive -- transition to the director's chair. And considering his success, one might worry that he'd make a misstep somewhere and back a sub par picture. Well, skeptics beware, because with The Horse Whisperer, Redford has secured his spot as an A-list director, and as a man who knows how to please his audience. Adapted from Nick Evan's best-selling novel, The Horse Whisperer depicts a New York family that is struck by tragedy when their daughter is involved in a horrific accident while riding her horse in the woods with a friend. Her friend is killed, and she is required to have her leg amputated; as for the horse, he is so severely traumatized that putting him down appears to be the only option. But the mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) refuses to watch another part of her life fall apart before her eyes, and demands that the horse be kept alive. She examines every source on horse healing, and learns of a strange treatment known as horse whispering, which deals with the spiritual healing of the animal. By this point, you should be able to figure out where the plot goes: she contacts the "horse whisperer," drags the horse (and her daughter) to a ranch in Montana, and through the experience they all find emotional healing. And while this might seem like a recipe destined for sappy Lifetime melodrama, Redford somehow makes it work. Not because the story is particularly unique, but simply because his characters actually feel real to us -- which is where so many other similar movies have failed. Thomas is superb as the controlling (yet confused) mother; instead of being portrayed as some manipulative matriarch, we actually sympathize with her situation. In fact, we sympathize with everyone's situation. Thomas eventually falls in love with the horse whisperer himself (played by Redford), and when she ultimately has to choose between him and her husband (played by Sam Neill), the dilemma is not boiled down to mere preference. Neill is a loving, caring father, and in the most moving scene of the picture, he declares his love for his wife yet allows her -- and even encourages her -- to follow her own heart. As the daughter, new-comer Scarlett Johannson gives a terrific performance, and with a supporting cast that includes Chris Cooper and Dianne Wiest, the ensemble is flawless. The film is deliberately paced, yet it never drags; instead, it uses its length (which runs close to three hours) to its own advantage, conveying the rare grace and tenderness that we saw in A River Runs Through It and Ordinary People. Each and every character is filled with an emotional depth rarely seen in mainstream romance epics, and the scenes that involve the horse being healed manage to be both compelling and powerful in spite of their contrived nature (which is really an accurate description of the entire picture). And even though it might not hit every emotional chord it tries to strike, The Horse Whisperer does so much right that it puts all the other wanna-be epics to shame. Here's to a future classic.
Grade: A-