Yes, it's nearly three hours long, and the story does drag at times during the film's second half. But The Horse Whisperer has compelling characters, understated direction, a decent script, and very good cinematography.
The story is based on a novel by Nicholas Evans. Annie MacLean (Kristin Scott Thomas) is a pushy, driven magazine editor. Her more passive husband is Robert (Sam Neill). Their lovely teenaged daughter is Grace (Scarlett Johansson). One morning, Grace goes horseback riding with her best friend Judith (Catherine Bosworth). But a terrible accident follows. Judith is killed, Grace loses a leg, and her horse Pilgrim is injured.
Annie is told by the vet that she has never seen a horse with injuries that severe that is still alive. But Annie refuses to have the horse put out of its misery. (Since Annie and Robert have largely reversed their gender roles, it is her decision to make.)
And why should she? Despite a head-on collision with a truck bigger than a three bedroom apartment, the horse apparently hasn't broken any bones. Pilgrim merely has a bad disposition, and an ugly open wound on his face.
But Grace, like Pilgrim, has become a sullen loner. Annie comes to the unusual conclusion that the best therapy for Grace is to restore her relationship with Pilgrim. But apparently, no one in the state of New York can cure Pilgrim. Annie learns that the man for the job is Tom Booker (Robert Redford), a 'horse whisperer' who can tame disturbed horses.
At the risk of losing her job, Annie drives Grace and Pilgrim all the way to Montana to see Booker. This is despite his having expressed disinterest and ridicule, even hanging the phone up on her, on their only previous communication.
Booker lives on a picturesque ranch with his brother Frank (Chris Cooper), who has a wife (Dianne Wiest) and several small children. Joe (Ty Hillman) is the oldest, and is perhaps the most polite and pleasant preteenager in recent screen history. This being a movie, Booker reluctantly drops everything to reform Pilgrim, while Grace and even Annie soon come around.
Although never unsympathetic, Annie is transformed from a blunt, headstrong career woman into a gentle and smitten love interest for the divorced Tom. Never mind that Redford is nearly a quarter century older than Kristin Scott Thomas. The age difference is downplayed by reducing her glamour. Thomas lacks the seductive hairstyle and costumes that she had in The English Patient and Mission Impossible.
The Horse Whisperer is the only film directed by Redford in which he also stars. He did serve as narrator for his 1992 film A River Runs Through It, which was also filmed in Montana. There are story similarities to The Electric Horseman (1979), in which cowboy Redford tames city career gal Jane Fonda, and to The Sweet Hereafter (1997), which has a depressed, attractive teenaged girl crippled due to a tragic accident.
The Horse Whisperer received Golden Globe nominations for Best Director and Best Motion Picture (Drama). It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song ("A Soft Place To Fall"). Surprisingly, Robert Richardson wasn't nominated for his expansive cinematography of Montana. (65/100)
The mother of a severely traumatized young girl injured in ahorseback riding accident that kills her best friend seeks outthe help of a unique horse t...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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