Rating: 
Summary: Good movie with a nice ending
Review: i'm extremely happy we rented this instead of bought it ..
This has to possibly be the worse movie out of every horse movie i've seen so far. The characters, i think, are pretty dim. Nice try on being a redneck, there. The only part that i actually got into was the beginning to where she gets injured .. then i thought it started going pretty downhill. they don't pay any attention to Pilgrim's markings there .. he'll have a huge star, a little star, not really even a star and no star. You could think they would've put more effort into the movie, but i guess not. The horse shows some emotions and some of the things are alright, but other parts .. are just .. unrealistic. I wouldn't rent the movie ever again, i grit my teeth at it, its my opinion that you move to a better movie before deciding to spend your money on this ...
Rating:
Summary: Voyage into the psyche of horses
Review: A very fine film, maybe a little bit slow at times due to the desire to capture the very special rhythm of Montana. The story of a New York girl and her horse taken up in the trauma of an accident. The horse has become wild and the girl has lost a leg and finds it difficult to cope, what's more she culpabilizes the accident and the sore fate of the horse. So far nothing special. The mother is a magazine editor and she decides to take the situation in her own hands and to look for help from a rancher in Montana who is known as having very special contact with horses. He is the horse whisperer. In other words he is a horse psychologist. She drops her responsibilities and drives there with the horse and her daughter. It is then the story of the recovery of the horse and of the girl in the hands of that man. Patience, contact, even when necessary some force on the horse and some authority on the girl. The mother and the daughter integrate the ranch and discover a completely different life and rhythm : to live in nature, with animals and raise them. We try to forget that it is only to produce meat. The scenery is grandiose and the absence of any distraction makes the mother and the daughter concentrate on themselves, and regenerate their life energy. Just this adventure is strong anough to be fascinating. It also reveals that these ranchers, who are extremely satisfied in this life, have a past experience of the city (Chicago for instance), of cultural entertainments (classical music for instance) and are not completely cut off from life due to television. But this life also provides children with early activities and responsibilities and makes them grow a lot faster, not so much in their bodies but in their minds and psyches. They are able to cope with life at the age of twelve. This is an amazing education that has to be contrasted with the childish and infantilizing education we provide most kids in our schools. Of course a love, not affair, but adventure develops between the mother and the horse whisperer : change, a completely new universe, the discovery of feelings that are of a new nature. The attitudes of these two and the father that rejoins them at the end are surprising in many ways : the freedom granted by the father to his wife, the responsibility of the mother who will in the end return to New York, and the deepfelt passion of the mother and the horse whisperer that will be dominated and kept human and humane, a passion of the soul which will make it a lot more difficult to break, and yet which will remain totally controled by the mind. No abandon, no reckless delving into it, just accepting it and keeping it within the limits of a humane vision which takes into accounts the interest of others and not only the selfish desires of the lovers. Love becomes then a mental and cultural blending of feelings and experiences. It can be brought to an end but it will always live and survive. The film is extremely moral in a way and tries to show that natural living conditions do not produce uncensored impulses, far from it. To go back to nature builds a deeper moral and ethical approach to life. Some will say that is a myth. Right they are. Some will say that is a dream. Right they are. Some will say that is an illusion. Right they are. But it is something that does exist and that shows human beings are definitely not animals.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
Rating: 
Summary: Movie better than book
Review: How often does a movie fix most of the problems in the book? This one does just that - most notably fixing the lousy ending. The scenery is gorgeous, and you don't have to be a fan of horses to enjoy this film.
Rating:
Summary: A note on the opening scene
Review: I agree with all the glorious things said about the film-making - the panorama of the landscapes, the story of the injured horse and the 'wounded' child, and also the romantic subplot.
I am writing here with the singular purpose, however, of suggesting that viewers be prepared for a very, very startling beginning. The accident is graphic enough to upset, but I feel that advance notice may help the sensitive or the young to prepare for it or to have a viewing buddy preview it and maybe 'edit' for them.
Aside from that brief sequence, the rest is wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant visual artistry
Review: Many have already addressed the plot of this film, so I will not not go into detail. However, I feel compelled to touch upon the visual storytelling in this film.
Movies are first and foremost imagery. As many legendary filmmakers have said, a good film can be watched with the sound turned off and still communicate every bit of the story and emotion through the images alone. This includes cinematography but goes light years beyond lighting and framing a scene. Each shot must be planned and designed, from sets to props to location scouting, from blocking the actors' movements to using color and shapes, textures, and spatial relationships. All these must communicate the text and subtext simultaneously.
I said all that to say this: Redford and his team blew me away with "The Horse Whisperer." The first act alone is filled with enough information in every corner of the screen to chew on for days. One example among dozens is the use of symmetry, parallel lines, and perpendicularity in the city scenes - even in the arrangement of books in the background, pens on a desk, or the window blinds in a hospital - to convey the superficially ordered control of Anne's life. This is contrasted with the organic sweeping curves of the farm landscapes where Grace's accident occurs. The confined spaces and straight streets of New York are gradually and gracefully replaced with the curves of the highways as Anne drives west until she reaches the Rockies in all their chaotically ingenious immensity.
And apart from all this, I was also deeply effected emotionally by this movie. Yes, it takes its time telling the story. But such stories in our own lives take time to unfold. And real, subtle moments deserve as much time to play out as they need. Grace's recovery from the death of her friend and the injuries to the body and spirit of herself and her faithful horse Pilgrim are also expertly crafted. It has personal resonance in my family because we faced many of the same trials and frustrations when my wife was injured by a tornado a year after we married. She was touched and encouraged by this film.
Thomas Newman's score is his masterwork. It brought me to tears during the end credits.
Grace is also perfectly portrayed by the then-unknown Scarlett Johansson. Most people seem to forget she was in "The Horse Whisperer," but I will always associate this film with Scarlett and her with it.
Rating:
Summary: The Horse Whisperer
Review: First off, I'm an avid reader. I read this book shortly before I heard about the movie coming out and I loved it. I couldn't put it down & cried through the last chapter. Now, to clarify...I'm not one of those weepy women who cries over hallmark comercials & other such drivel. It takes a lot to make me shed a tear. That said, I got so into the book that I couldn't help feel the pain the characters were going through. When the movie came out, I went to the theatre to watch it...excited about seeing it all come to life before me. I know better than this b/c rarely are movies as good as the books, but still I hoped for the best. It was beautiful. I'll give it that...but it was slow. I felt every mile of the drive from NY to Montana. Besides being bored through most of the movie, I got more & more angry as I realized just how little respect was paid to the book with the screenplay. The characters weren't the ones that I had fallen in love with...or in the same respect hated. They were just kinda emotionless, middle of the road representations of the characters that Nicholas Evans created. Then...somewhere along the line, I'm guessing the screenplay writer decided that the book that they had bought the rights to wasn't good enough so they took the liberty to omit the last 4th of the book & reinvent their own Hollywoodized ending. As a reader and a Nicholas Evans fan, I couldn't help but feel that they butchered his work. BUT, if you like long, slow, movies and have never read & don't intend to read the book...go right ahead and see this movie. You just might like it. Scarlett Johanssen is good and the scenery is beautiful.
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