reviewed by harvey karten , ph . d . touchstone pictures director : robert redford writer : eric roth , richard la gravenese , novel by nicholas evans cast : robert redford , kristin scott thomas , sam neill , dianne wiest , scarlett johansson , chris cooper in his fluffy play " california suite , " neil simon's tense , chain- smoking new york magazine writer visits her laid-back ex-husband in southern california . he , bill warren , cannot understand why his ex continues to live in the fast-paced big city while she , hannah warren , is appalled by what she considers bill's sloth . their mutual incomprehension continues long after their marriage has dissolved . the writer does not take sides , but rather implies that while there's no place like home , human beings must decide for themselves where they prefer to be . robert redford , on the other hand , does take a stand in the conflict between city mouse and country mouse . the celebrated actor , who surpassed paul newman as the country's most popular performer during the 1970s , maintains a home in manhattan but spends most of his time on his vast properties in utah . his inclination is with the open spaces , or so you'll have to believe if you accept " the horse whisperer " as his adulation of the american west . " the horse whisperer " is filmed primarily in montana , where the grass grows tall and for some is greener on the other side . for others , less jaded , this turf is the color of the finest emerald . the movie , which stars robert redford ( who also directed and co-produced the story from a best-selling novel by the english writer nicholas evans ) , deals with a woman who edits a slick , urban magazine , is vaguely dissatisfied with her marriage to a good man , and who finds passion and meaning among people who live in a different world . annie maclean ( kristin scott thomas ) lives with her lawyer husband robert ( sam neill ) and their 14-year-old daughter grace ( scarlett johansson ) . on one snowy day in their upstate new york country home , young grace goes for a ride with her friend on her beloved horse pilgrim . a freak accident throws her friend from her horse where she is pulled along the ground . grace's attempt to rescue her pal puts both in the path of a skidding 18-wheeler , killing her friend , injuring pilgrim severely , and causing grace to lose part of her right leg . annie must now cope with a teenager who is plunged into depression and a badly damaged horse which has become so traumatized that he turns feral . the scenario brings to mind a news event which broke just two weeks before the opening of the picture . . . * * * nolensville , tenn . ( ap may 5 ) -- an enraged horse known for being unruly kicked a man to death . sheriff's sgt . robert dillon said tuesday that billy camron , believed to be 64 , suffered severe injuries to his head , back and other parts of his body and also had several bite marks . dillon quoted camron's son as saying " it was just a mean horse . " deputies said they found the horse running " rampant in the field " when they arrived monday night . the son authorized the horse to be killed . * * * pilgrim , however , had never been a mean horse and had , in fact , tried to protect his rider from injury . wounds inflicted on him had turned him into a untamed beast , and annie rejects the advice of her vet ( cherry jones ) to " put him down " seeking out a horse whisperer to restore his sanity . " the horse whisperer " encompasses two epic stories during its ample , 164-minute span . on one level , the picture deals with the attempts of the title character , tom booker ( robert redford ) to administer to a psychotic animal using a technique unknown in the east and , in fact , even in his own country . as booker puts it , he does not treat people with a horse problem ; he handles horses with people difficulties . on another plane , " the horse whisperer " is a romance involving a slowly-growing relationship between a gentle rancher who has not felt the pangs of love since he split up with his wife , and an edgy , urban sophisticate who had not realized she could respond in a vigorous way to a man . the heady effect of the plains spirit works its mysteries on young grace as well , who is lifted from her grand funk under the influence of the sensitive horseman and the kindness of the extended family of ranchers she has grown to respect . redford seems to have chosen the subject to venerate a way of life which is fading under the sway of the large corporations : the spirit of the independent cowboys who appear so remote from the attractions of the big city that they might be living on mars . they are contrasted with what passes for civilization by some clever , homespun dialogue . told that a new york woman has come to spend time in montana , frank booker ( chris cooper ) , tom's brother , suggests " mixed salads . . . new york women like mixed salads " --as he and his family dig into their robust dinner of meat , mashed potatoes and thickly-buttered bread . the bookers seem to amaze grace and annie momentarily when they recite a quiet prayer just before digging into their spread , though frank's down-home wife diane ( dianne wiest ) , not wholly satisfied by her life , wistfully suggests that she would like to travel to morocco . yet another jarring difference between montana and manhattan emerges when annie's cell phone goes off , alarming the horse whom tom is struggling to tame . a city dweller could scarcely imagine tom's patience when in one incident , as pilgrim runs away from his corral , the horse is captivated by the patient tom who simply sits on the grass and stares at the animal for hours as if to say " it's your decision . " you come away from the movie with a more visceral understanding of why kevin bacon and peter fonda spend most of their time on their montana ranches and why redford would choose to live in utah , spending only a fraction of his year in new york . redford's is a west of marlboro men who don't smoke , rough-and tumble cowpokes who don't curse , and squeaky-clean kids who say " ma'am " and " thank you " and are genuinely involved in the chores on their ranch . in short it's about home , perhaps the most important word in the english language . in redford's terms happiness belongs to those who have found it . scarlett johansson provides us with a believable performance of a fun-loving girl who , like her cherished equine , turns bratty from a serious injury but who has become wholly rehabilitated under the guidance of a considerate man . kristin scott thomas effectively bares her conflict between a devotion to her dependable and loving husband and her passion for a westerner who is firmly rooted to his place and its history . robert redford continues to amaze . this sixty- year old , impossibly handsome actor will probably continue playing square-jawed , sky-eyed , lonely heroes well into his eighties , and we don't wonder that after seeing the movie " indecent proposal , " a young man in the audience who said to his date : " would you sleep with him for a million dollars ? " gets the reply from the sweet young thing , " sure : but you'll have to give me some time to raise the money . " rated pg-13 . running time : 164 minutes . ( c ) harvey karten 1998 
