Wednesday, December 28, 2011

A Bumpy Ride

Review: War Horse

Prior to its release, War Horse was poised to be a galloping good time for the whole family, while simultaneously being a potential contender for an Academy Award. However, despite being directed by the great Steven Spielberg, I can’t help but feel that this film has been over-hyped leading up to its opening weekend and overly praised afterwards. It seems to be that simply because it is a film expected to be up for an Oscar, people are determined to absolutely love it.

Not to take anything away from The King’s Speech, a delightful film and certainly much better than War Horse, but it serves as a good example of audiences seeming to be determined to love a film before they have even seen it. You knew you were going to like it before going into the theater. The King’s Speech met expectations. War Horse does not. But the Oscar-buzz band-wagon seems to have stopped so many critics from delivering the critique the film deserves, in favor of the critique people expect.

So what led to the disappointment of my expectations? Frankly, it was rather dull. Sure, horses are powerful and noble creatures. But in a live-action film set during the First World War, having an animal as your primary protagonist for the full 2½ hour run-time loses a certain level of connectivity the audience has with the story.

And the story itself is also part of the problem. In War Horse, young Albert (a weak performance from Jeremy Irvine) trains Joey, an energetic horse purchased for their farm. But when war breaks out and the family is in need of money, Albert’s father (Peter Mullan) sells Joey to the army. The rest of the film follows Joey as he experiences the war from each side of the trenches. Joey essentially passes from one owner to the next, giving the film a very episodic nature. This is positive in that if you do not enjoy a specific chapter, you don’t have to wait long before Joey is off on a new adventure.

Yet when the only connection between each of these episodes is a beleaguered horse, the film simply isn’t as interesting; despite good performances from the characters he meets along the way, particularly from Tom Hiddleston (Thor, The Avengers), veteran French actor Niels Arestrup, and newcomer Celine Buckens. Perhaps if the story was about Albert and Joey facing the war together, we would be more invested in the plot. But as it is, Albert and Joey spend a lengthy half-hour training at the start of the film before being separated up until the movie’s final moments. It is a relationship that needed to be more clearly at the forefront of the story; even though their reunion is quite heart-warming.

In fact, the entire film is touching in different ways throughout. While War Horse is not his best, composing legend John Williams always orchestrates beautiful scores. Cinematically, Spielberg has painted a visual masterpiece of a film with massive scope – all of Europe is his canvas – and he films every face-shot as though the audience will weep on cue and every scene as though it could break hearts. Is it an obvious ploy for emotional response? Sure. Will you get teary-eyed? Perhaps. But with so much melodrama at every turn, we even tire of the film’s never-ending supply of sentiment.

War Horse also seems to be confused as to what type of movie it would like to be. Is it an emotional drama? A light-hearted family film? Or a gritty war movie? Spielberg clearly wanted to appeal to all audiences. However, because the film tries to please everyone, it also lets everyone down. Like they say, no one really wins in compromise. Both sides just lose.

Ultimately, War Horse is a beautiful, feel-good film which is hindered by its episodic nature and doesn’t reach the potential it had to truly grip audiences.

The Final Word: Wait to rent it.

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