# Horse Whisperer, The (1998)

### reviewed by
James Sanford

As a novel, Nicholas Evans' "The Horse Whisperer" prompted snickers from a lot of neigh-sayers who complained about the novel's melodramatic elements and unconvincing characters. But it proved to be a surprise best seller anyway, and all of Hollywood went after the film rights with a vengeance. Thankfully, Robert Redford won out, and even better, he had the good sense (horse sense, perhaps?) to hire Richard La Gravenese to do the screenplay. La Gravenese was the man who managed to drain the sap out of "The Bridges of Madison County" a few years ago and turn it into a classy, earthy romance. He and fellow scribe Eric Roth perform similar good work here, turning what could have been a tiresome round-up of stereotypes into a genuinely involving story of two people struggling to bridge the gap between their very different worlds.

For Tom Booker (Redford), life is simple and unadorned. He's a "horse whisperer," a man who claims to "help horses with people problems" through a variety of odd but effective therapies. New Yorkers Annie (Kristin Scott Thomas) McLean and her teenage daughter Grace (Scarlett Johansson) are sorely in need of his help. Not long ago, Grace and her horse Pilgrim were almost killed in a horrible accident that took the lives of Grace's best friend and her pony. The aftershocks of the tragedy still linger: Grace has lost a leg, and Pilgrim is maimed and mad.

Desperate to shake her child out of what seems like an unceasing funk, Annie leaves behind the glossy magazine she edits and loads up Grace and Pilgrim for a cross-country journey to Montana to consult with Booker. Of course, results do not come quickly or easily. And, of course, because this is after all a movie starring Robert Redford, the city gal slowly comes to understand and even to relish country ways.

Thematically, "The Horse Whisperer" has much in common with "The Electric Horseman," Redford's popular 1979 vehicle that cast Jane Fonda as the career woman who thaws out once she leaves her glitzy landscape behind. There's even a direct allusion to the film in the name of the horse Booker gives to Annie. But while "Electric Horseman" was a feel-good formula picture, "Horse Whisperer" is aiming for something much deeper and truer.

Under Redford's beautifully understated direction, it finds its target. Few directors are as attentive to performances as Redford, and the evidence is all over this leisurely but never dull tale. Watch how Annie's hand hurries to straighten out a tablecloth Grace has wrinkled or how Redford inserts a shot of Annie cracking open a window in her sumptuous Manhattan digs to breathe in the city air after a confrontation with Grace. These are the kinds of moments that define characters - and they're exactly the sort of thing generally snipped out of a film if it threatens to run over two hours.

Redford allows "The Horse Whisperer" to go on for well over that, and, in truth, trimming about 15 minutes out of the picture wouldn't have done much harm. But what he's presented us with is an embarrassment of riches. He's generously allowed Thomas to occupy the spotlight for most of the story, and this magnificent actress more than rises to the challenge. She's smart enough never to allow Annie to come off solely as either a cold, crabby urbanite or a strident mom: There's always something else lurking just beneath the surface. In one of the film's most telling scenes, Annie rushes up to a corral and jumps up to stand on the fence, then slowly slinks back from it when she realizes she's doing something her daughter no longer can. There's no explanation, no apology, just a thoughtful little action. Sam Neill, as her husband, takes what could have been a throwaway role and makes it valid by never permitting his character to fall into the usual blustery recriminations we've come to expect from such a third wheel. Johansson has a difficult time keeping up with them, both literally and figuratively, but she manages to get in touch with Grace's darkness and self-pity.

And Redford's performance? What can be said? In a role of this type, he's simply beyond criticism. It's difficult to imagine the film working nearly as well without such a charismatic star. Or, for that matter, without such a gifted director calling the shots.

    James Sanford

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