ÂíÓïÕß The Horse Whisperer review by Doris Toumarkine

While Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer is, above all, a cowboy film for grown-ups, this spectacularly acted and photographed epic offers plenty of mainstream fodder for a broad swath of filmgoers to enjoy. It's the Walter Farley children's classics meets Brief Encounter meets Redford's uncanny good taste and intelligence and cinematic eye.

The film opens with a heart-stopping sequence depicting-with virtuosic cross-cutting-the horseback-riding accident that causes teen Grace MacLean (Scarlett Johansson) to lose part of her leg. Grace's tragedy is matched by that of her beloved horse Pilgrim, who is so severely injured it is recommended that he be put down.

Grace's mom Annie, a high-powered Tina Brown-like editor of a slick New York-based magazine (a Vanity Fair office serves as Annie's work lair), embarks on a plan to cure both daughter and Pilgrim. Having read about 'horse whisperer' Tom Rooker (Redford), Annie, after being initially rebuffed, tracks him down at his brother's cattle ranch in Montana and persuades Rooker to try to cure Pilgrim.

Rooker not only has a gift with horses (he doesn't 'whisper' them to health so much as quietly, patiently show the animal that man is to be trusted again), he also has a way with kids and their moms. Eventually, Grace's bitterness recedes and Annie, through Rooker, learns that life is a lot more than nerve-wracking deadlines and the lush amenities of upper-class urban life.

Redford's achievement is to turn largely mundane material into a highly watchable, entertaining and intelligent film. In no rush to tell his story, Redford lets magnificent vistas and long fades lull his audience into complicity. Having already proven his immense talent for dealing with family drama (Ordinary People) and the great outdoors as if it were an integral character (A River Runs Through It), Redford seems to have found his perfect story. He even manages to give an interesting and suspenseful twist to the simmering Annie/Tom romance, which may or may not materialize. And in his role of the rugged, subtly embittered loner bursting with integrity and passion, he has also found the perfect Redford character.

Again proving that good taste pays off, Redford has surrounded his main characters with a well-chosen support group. Sam Neill triumphs in the non-showy role as Annie's understanding husband, Dianne Wiest and Chris Cooper are the perfect ranch couple, and Cherry Jones shines in her brief role as the veterinarian offering little hope.

Of course, horse-lovers will be delighted by all the animal footage, but it is the Redford and Scott Thomas performances that will linger into early next year when Oscar again rolls around.

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