| FLICKA |
 2006 - USA / UKDirector: Michael Mayer
- Reviewed by Vickie
As such, I found myself thoroughly enjoying this updated adaptation of Mary O’Hara’s beloved novel about a rebellious girl and her even more rebellious wild mustang. Alison Lohman stars as our heroine, Katy McLaughlin, whose family owns a massive-sprawl of a horse ranch in Wyoming. Her rugged dad, Rob (Tim McGraw, sporting an unfortunate hairpiece), runs the place with the help of her stunning mother, Nell (Maria Bello), and strapping older brother, Howard (Ryan Kwanten). But Katy’s in hot water at her boarding school and comes home for summer break with her academic future at risk. Her dad’s upset, given the family’s sacrifices on behalf of her education, and tries to rein Katy in… but she’s distracted by the discovery of a wild mustang with whom she forges an intense bond. Once the mustang is corralled, Katy christens her “Flicka” and begs for permission to keep and train her. But Rob’s got financial woes and reveals his plans to sell Flicka to a wealthy trader for a hefty price tag. Despite Katy’s pleas, Flicka is sold away and the father-daughter conflict explodes as Katy desperately tries to get back her beloved horse, save the McLaughlin homestead and restore order amongst her family members. While Lohman may be a smidge long-in-the-tooth to be playing a teenager, she pulls it off and manages to inject Katy with a nice combination of spirit, spunk and vulnerability. When she sobbed for Flicka, a big lump lodged in my throat, and when she kicked ass, I felt like applauding. Bello is luminous and warm and motherly, and I just wanted her to give me a hug and tuck me into bed. But McGraw, still a novice actor, struggles under the weight of more emotional scenes. One, in particular, requires him to cry on camera, and I squirmed in my seat as he desperately tried to squeeze out a tear. The scenery is beautiful and provides an awe-inspiring backdrop for the action which, at times, might alarm younger viewers. I’m an adult and even *I* was getting panicky during some of the more frightening sequences. (I kept telling myself, “It’s just a movie. No horses were actually harmed!”) The film is nicely paced, the story is straightforward and it should hold the interest of its target audience (namely: the under-13 set). Sure, it might not have been the most daring project ever to emerge on celluloid, but there’s nothing wrong with a very nice movie about two—one human, one equine—misunderstood but much-adored characters finding their footing in life. |
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I ♥ animal films. So sue me.
