Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Gorgeous, slow-paced '90s horse drama has mature themes.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
The Horse Whisperer
What's the Story?
In THE HORSE WHISPERER, a 13-year-old girl (Scarlett Johansson) loses her leg in a riding accident that also traumatizes and nearly kills her horse. Her high-powered New York magazine editor mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) drives the depressed girl and damaged horse to Montana for therapy with a man known as a "horse whisperer" (Robert Redford). The camera dwells on the wide expanses of Montana vista, paralleling the whisperer's unhurried therapy technique, one that takes the long view. He leaves lots of space for the horse to come around on his own. His patience and taciturn gentleness help the girl heal as well. In watching the horse's transformation, it appears that everyone involved also comes away gentler, more patient, and more understanding of themselves and others.
Is It Any Good?
As directed with serene intensity by Redford, viewers get to move in and live in this movie for its nearly three-hour running time, and it's a memorable stay. Redford plays the whisperer of the title, a gentle rancher who waits patiently for a frightened horse, a wounded girl, and her tightly wound mother to trust him and thereby find peace in themselves. Performances are as beautiful as the scenery is magnificent. The young and eerily precocious Scarlett Johansson already has the stillness and intelligence of her later work. Kristin Scott Thomas as the high-strung mother is both pitiable and magnetizing, ready to be humanized by her attraction to the sensitive rancher. The Horse Whisperer is about letting go of old pain, useless baggage, and self-destructive ways. Although it does not advise that love conquers all, it does advocate for love's healing power.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the filmmakers decided to tell the story at a slower pace than many of today's movies. Does the slow pacing of The Horse Whisperer have an echo in the story being told? (Is the rancher's ability to communicate with the horse linked to his unhurried manner?)
Does it seem as if there's a parallel between the slow recovery of the horse and the recovery of the girl? What aspects of plot, editing, and direction support that?
What does the movie seem to say about the responsibility of a parent to a child? Does it advocate parents making sacrifices for their children? Which part of the movie suggests that?
How does the film want viewers to feel about natural beauty, wide-open spaces, and country living, as opposed to city living?
How do the characters in The Horse Whisperer demonstrate communication and self-control? Why are these important character strengths?
Movie Details
- In theaters : May 15, 1998
- On DVD or streaming : November 10, 1998
- Cast : Robert Redford , Scarlett Johansson , Kristin Scott Thomas , Chris Cooper , Dianne Wiest
- Director : Robert Redford
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Touchstone Home Entertainment
- Genre : Drama
- Character Strengths : Communication , Self-control
- Run time : 168 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : for a disturbing accident scene
- Last updated : February 15, 2023
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