The Horse Whisperer (1998)

The mother of a severely traumatized daughter enlists the aid of a unique horse trainer to help the girl's equally injured horse.

Director:

Robert Redford

Writers:

Nick Evans (novel), Eric Roth (screenplay),

Stars:

Robert Redford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sam Neill

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Redford	...	Tom Booker
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Annie MacLean
Sam Neill	...	Robert MacLean
Dianne Wiest	...	Diane Booker
Scarlett Johansson	...	Grace MacLean
Chris Cooper	...	Frank Booker
Cherry Jones	...	Liz Hammond
Ty Hillman	...	Joe Booker
Kate Bosworth	...	Judith (as Catherine Bosworth)
Austin Schwarz	...	Twin #1
Dustin Schwarz	...	Twin #2
Jeanette Nolan	...	Ellen Booker
Steve Frye	...	Hank
Don Edwards	...	Smokey
Jessalyn Gilsig	...	Lucy, Annie's Assistant

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

horse | grace | montana | ranch | teenage girl | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for a disturbing accident scene

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 May 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

El señor de los caballos

Filming Locations:

Greenwich, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$48,100,000 (Non-US) (2 October 1998)

Gross:

£5,448,177 (UK) (9 October 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Wildwood Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

170 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Listed in the closing credits as 'equine technical advisor' is a man named Buck Brannaman. He's the subject of a 2011 documentary titled Buck which relates his own troubled past and how he became a 'horse whisperer'. In the Redford movie, there's a picture of Buck and his brother Smokie Brannaman in the montage of old family photos during a scene at the Booker home. It's the one with two young boys with Santa Claus; Buck is the boy on the left.

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Goofs

The time displayed on Annie's watch when she says goodbye to Tom.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Judith: [waves] Hello!
Grace: [waves] Hello!

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Zach Galifianakis/Jessie J (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Big Ball's in Cowtown"
Written by Hoyle Nix

User Reviews

A Bit Melodramatic, But Beautiful To See

Here's a beautifully filmed "horse opera" about a New York teenage girl (Scarlett Johannsson, who is now a well-known actress but wasn't when this was made) and her horse, both of whom are badly injured in a mishap and are healed by a Montana horse expert, played by Robert Redford.

Redford also directed this film and being such an outdoors-man, you know this is going to show nature in a beautiful way....and it does. The Montana scenery is just awesome.

After a dramatic opening scene in which we see the horse and daughter hurt, the mother (Kristin Scott-Thonas) takes the girl and the horse out West to see if the horse can be salvaged. Unfortunately, the mother

• who is married - falls for the horseman "Tom Booker" (Redford) and an

adulterous relationship almost comes to fruition. That romance is the soap opera part of the film but it's nice to see everyone, including Redford's character, healed of emotional as well as physical wounds.

Some of the teen's bad attitudes are not fun to watch, but otherwise the people in here are very nice. Ranchers Redford and Chris Cooper and Cooper's sons are all nice people, especially of one Cooper's little kids. This film is a bit too much of a melodrama at times which makes it a long in spots, but it's a long movie to begin with (169 minutes). It's so beautifully filmed, however, that for that alone the movie is worth seeing.