The build-up to director Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse” was huge when the film was released late last year, because of the popular novel it’s based on and the Tony Award-winning play. And while this version does provide a nice story and engaging characters, “War Horse” goes down a familiar path and therefore fails to be extraordinary.
The plot centers around Albert (Jeremy Irvine), a teenage boy who lives on a farm in Britain with his father and mother. The family needs a new plow horse. But at the auction Albert’s father decides to buy a young, energetic horse that catches his eye instead, and he spends all the family’s money on him. Albert immediately becomes attached to the horse, who he names Joey, even though his mother wants to sell him back. Albert promises he will train Joey and teach him to plow so they can make enough money to keep the farm.
But then World War I breaks-out and Joey begins an amazing four year journey in which he in involved in war – on both sides – and has several different owners. His impact, as a horse, brings out the best and the worst of everyone he comes in contact with.
The “War Horse” story is simple and straight forward. Once the set-up is in place there are no surprises. It’s rare for a film that’s nearly 2 1/2 hours long not to have one single twist. What keeps you interested is Joey. Spielberg has done a nice job of making a horse the star of the film but not making it corny. Joey has human qualities and more personality than all of the other characters in the movie combined.
Irvine does fine work as Albert, especially later in the film when he becomes a soldier and joins the war. The rest of the cast, including Emily Watson and Peter Mullan, who play Albert’s mother and father, give effective performances.
The biggest surprise for me is the directing, which is pretty ordinary. Where are the typical Speilberg touches? There are way too many close-ups and a couple of bad edits. This was Spielberg’s first film to be digitally edited so maybe that was part of the problem, but since this is an old fashioned film maybe they should have stuck with old fashioned techniques. Could it be that he spent too much time on “The Adventures of Tintin”, which opened four days prior, and not enough overseeing this final draft of “War Horse”?
There are a few other minor problems, including an annoying goose who is something out of a bad family comedy and where were the horses names in the closing credits? Without them there couldn’t have been a movie!
“War Horse” is rated PG-13 for intense battle scenes which include some violent deaths. It’s appropraite for teens and up, especially those who may be studying WWI in school. Of course this story is fiction, but the setting and the conflicts are real.
On “The Official Kid Critic Report Card”, “War Horse” gets an B-.
Of the nine 2011 Best Picture nominees “War Horse” was one of the least deserving.