THE HORSE WHISPERER ***1/2 (out of four) -a review by Bill Chambers, wchamber@netcom.ca
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starring Robert Redford, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Scarlett Johanssen, Sam
Neill
screenplay by Richard LaGravenese, based on the book
by Nicholas Evans
directed by Robert Redford
After Indecent Proposal and Up Close and Personal, Redford was wise to direct himself in a picture at last. Redford may look great on-screen, but over the past few years, he's proven himself a bigger talent behind the camera. Ordinary People is one of the best films of the nineteen-eighties, and it was the first picture he helmed. While The Milagro Beanfield War was only occasionally successful at combining magic-realism with...um, realism, and I've never been much of a fan of A River Runs Through It (to the chagrin of many), Quiz Show was dazzling, energetic and convincing. THE HORSE WHISPERER represents both his directorial return to nature films and the first time in that sub-genre Redford seems equally concerned with humans and scenery.
Scott-Thomas plays Annie MacLean, an uptight but respected New York magazine editor whose daughter Grace (Johanssen) loses a leg and a good friend when an early morning ride climaxes with their horses colliding with a semi. Grace's horse survived, but barely, and has gone mad. Annie refuses to put the animal out of his misery, believing that if the horse heals it will mend Grace's newly-broken spirit. Eventually, mother and daughter travel alone to Montana to be with Tom Booker (Redford), a famed "horse whisperer" who has a gift of calming horses with simple looks and touches, leaving busy husband Neill behind. Eventually, they move onto the Booker ranch with the rest of Tom's family, and Annie finds herself falling in love with all things Montana, including, naturally, Tom, the wise and lonely trainer.
THE HORSE WHISPERER is delicately made. I dare say lyrical, since to many people's ear, that word is synonymous with boring. Hardly. THE HORSE WHISPERER has little to offer in the way of surprise, but it does have an honesty that is refreshing and consistently enjoyable to watch, especially in the final third of the story. Scott-Thomas and Johanssen seem like mother and daughter, and you have no doubt believing that the mountain vistas would put these New Yorkers under a spell, especially since d.p. Robert Richardson's photography casts Montana as Heaven on Earth. (A gimmicky but effective technique the filmmakers employ is a switch in aspect ratio from squarish to widescreen when the central location shifts from New York to Montana.) The underrated Sam Neill turns in perhaps his most heartfelt, emotive performance as the nice-guy husband, who is as authoritive and likeable as Tom. He is indeed a refreshing change from the sexist, lout of a husband so many writers resort to as a short-cut for explaining away the cheating spouse's motivation. Unfortunately, one of THE HORSE WHISPERER's only flaws is the chemistry between would-be lovers Scott-Thomas and Redford. I liked both of them, but I didn't necessarily believe that Redford would fall for such a cold fish, even if the countryside air thawed her slightly. Luckily (and curiously), this is such a rich and textured movie that it doesn't quite matter-their adultery seems like an afterthought, the obligatory sub-plot that ties many of the characters' complex relationships together.
-July, 1998
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