The Horse Whisperer

The setting is Montana, but we're really in Madison County country as yet another soul-stirring Earth Daddy inspires a conflicted woman to consider leaving husband and home. Like Clint Eastwood's Robert Kincaid, the role of Tom Booker fits Robert Redford like a pair of durable, well-worn jeans. Booker is a "whisperer" who helps "horses with people problems." Annie (Kristen Scott Thomas), a high-powered New York magazine editor, is saddled with both. Her daughter has been horribly crippled in a riding accident, and her beloved horse, too, has been physically maimed and emotionally scarred. She packs them up and heads out West to compel Booker to work his magic. Fans of Nicholas Evans' book (a publishing phenomenon that the public took to heart despite critical jeers) will gallop toward this video, despite liberties the script takes with the source material. The photography is breathtaking (we recommend the widescreen version) and the performances, especially Scarlett Johansson as the daughter, are heartfelt. But in Redford's hands (and empathetic gazes, which add to this film's considerable length), this Booker is too good to be true. One's heart goes out to Annie's husband (Sam Neill), a good and decent man. How can he compete with a guy--Robert Redford, no less--who can talk to horses? Recommended. (K. Lee Benson)[Blu-ray Review—July 17, 2012—Buena Vista, 169 min., PG-13, $20.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1998's The Horse Whisperer sports a nice transfer and features a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack. Extras include three vintage featurettes on production (2 min.), star Robert Redford (2 min.), and horse trainer Buck Brannaman (2 min.), as well as “A Soft Place to Fall” music video by Allison Moorer, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine Blu-ray debut for this popular Redford film.]