Written by Jennifer
March 19, 2009
Lose the cup, lose the farm, lose it all, you losery losers you!
You have to go a long way to stink up a movie about a girl and her horse, but Dreamworks pulls out all the stops with Dreamer. They recruit former golden boy Kurt Russell, 80's cutie Elisabeth Shue, girl wonder Dakota Fanning, and Kris Kristofferson for what would best be described as Seabiscuit for Dummies. An unhappy family takes a chance on an injured horse, and everyone's wildest dreams come true in a painfully stupid way. If you're still thinking of watching Dreamer, read on.
As the movie opens, we glimpse into the tension-riddled life of the Crane family. Lily (Shue) has to go to work at the diner, and Ben (Russell) had promised to take Cale (Fanning) to work with him at the stables. As Ben tried to weasel his way out of spending the day with Cale, I really thought the Cranes were some sort of blended family, and that Cale was a step-daughter he didn't know very well. Nope, she's really his kid, and Lily is really his wife, and the only reason he keeps his family at arm's length is that... it's in the script. This is also why he has a strained relationship with his father (Kristofferson), and why they refuse to raise horses on their horse farm EVER again. Of course, they're also in the process of losing the farm, because that's what happens to farms in movies. Especially when they're owned by people as moronic as the Cranes.
But I digress. Ben does take Cale to work with him, and even though he's worked there for years, this is the day he gets fired! How convenient that Cale gets to witness the whole thing! When Ben suggests that Soñador sit out one of the races, his corrupt boss (David Morse) refuses to listen. Naturally the horse breaks her leg, and Ben takes the blame for that, too. Being the upstanding fellow he is, Ben saves Soñador's life by accepting her as partial payment for services rendered. Soñador's jockey (Freddy Rodriguez) and groom (Luis Guzman) come along with the deal, and they all head back to the ranch.
Upon arrival, Ben constructs an elaborate sling that will keep Soñador off her bad leg. Everyone pitches in to care for the horse with the idea that they'll breed her and become filthy rich. Cale starts feeding her Popsicles in the middle of the night, and even crawls out of her second-storey window to do so. She learns all she can about horse racing, and finally, FINALLY, life at the Crane's begins to feel normal.
Then they find out Soñador is sterile. And then they sell her, and Cale tries to run away from home, and here the film officially hits rock bottom. Despite her businesslike obsession with Soñador, Cale never shows any real interest in riding horses. She doesn't lay around reading horse books or do any of the things most horsey little girls do. In fact, it seems a lot like Cale is in it for the money, and Dakota Fanning's icky acting doesn't help. She basically recycles her creepy performance from Hide and Seek, and every time I saw her with Elisabeth Shue, I pictured her shoving her out the window. Dakota's precocious nature may have worked in movies like I Am Sam, but now that she's getting older, she's turning into one awkward (and rather unsettling) kid. But back to the low point in Dreamer....
Cale hops on Soñador's back, and Soñador takes off like, well, a race horse, and just keeps going. Amazingly, Cale doesn't bounce off, but she also has no idea how to stop her equine friend. Alternating close-ups of Dakota fake-riding a barrel and an adult stunt double riding a real horse depict Cale's wild ride. Ben immediately hops into his pick-up to save her, nearly crashing into several trees in his pursuit of Soñador. He yells many things to his daughter, but never "pull back on the reins!" Ultimately he leaps out of the truck and Cale throws herself into his arms. Oh lord. Is this thing over yet?
I suppose the film gains momentum after Soñador begins racing again. Ben buys her for Cale, and allows her to make all the business decisions. Of course Cale decides to take on the Breeder's Cup, but she doesn't do so with the hopeful innocence of a child. She approaches the whole affair with a megalomaniacal sense of entitlement that makes you want them to lose... lose the cup, lose the farm, lose it all, you losery losers you!
I must give credit to the tragically underutilized Elisabeth Shue, and the completely benign Kris Kristofferson and Luis Guzman. We see very little of them in the movie, but they really did nothing wrong. As for the half-assed writers, Kurt Russell, and Dakota Fanning I can only shake my head and recommend that they all lay off on the attitude. Their collective overconfidence may well have sunk this movie.
