The horse did not "fall down", he was "laid down" using this technique that is used as a last resort to save horses. Profanity includes "s--t," "hell," "damn," "Jesus," "Christ," and "SOB." I've never read the HORSE WHISPERER. Common Sense and other associated names and logos are trademarks of Common Sense Media, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (FEIN: 41-2024986). Finding one's place in the world, letting go, and the nature of love are all themes, which lead to a married woman deciding if she values her family above her personal needs. Two classic examples, I Am Legend and The Horse Whisperer. Kristin Scott Thomas as the high-strung mother is both pitiable and magnetizing, ready to be humanized by her attraction to the sensitive rancher. Ending / spoiler for The Horse Whisperer (1998), plus mistakes, quotes, trivia and more. As nearly as I could tell, Tom stares at the horse until the horse gets the idea. A man who lost a love allows himself to love again. Rated PG-13 Common Sense is the nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of all kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century. Eventually the horse succumbs to its need for love and acceptance. It depicts an accident that kills a girl and her horse and seriously injures another girl and horse. The Horse Whisperer (1998) Released in 1998, The Horse Whisperer is a movie that stars Robert Redford and Scarlett Johansson and is based on a 1995 book by Nicholas Evans of the same name. The surviving girl and horse both undergo gentle but firm therapy, and the famous Robert Redford-directed piece epically covers their slow and painful progress with beauty and eloquence. They totally ruined it. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. Also, Buck's horses were used to film the movie. For A Disturbing Accident Scene, HBO's It's a Sin is a Radiant Coming-of-Age Story in a Dark Period, Three-Hour Brunch Friend: Greta Gerwig's Breakups, Getting to the Heart of America in David Lynch's The Straight Story, Bright Wall/Dark Room February 2021: Who Could Ask for Anything More? (Is the rancher's ability to communicate with the horse linked to his unhurried manner?). The Horse Whisperer (Book) : Evans, Nicholas : Tom Booker can calm wild horses with his voice and can heal broken spirits with his touch. 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. There are big meals, long hours and head-clearing rides on the range. Of course, he will live on forever in their hearts — and in the new child that is born at the end of the story. Does it advocate parents making sacrifices for their children? that would freak out a horse. Gorgeous, slow-paced '90s horse drama has mature themes. not on. "The Horse Whisperer" is about a man of great patience, faced with a woman, a child and a horse in great need of it. When a big rig hits them and their horses it’s the end of Grace’s word. She has fallen so much under the spell of the West that when she's fired from her magazine job, she hardly seems to notice. "This is where I belong. The girl's parents are high-powered Manhattanites: The father (Sam Neill) is a lawyer, and the mother, Annie (Kristen Scott Thomas), is clearly modeled on New Yorker editor Tina Brown. Robert Redford bought the film rights in 1995 for £3 million, and the film The Horse Whisperer was released in 1998, with Redford himself in the title role as Tom Booker. Does it seem as if there's a parallel between the slow recovery of the horse and the recovery of the girl? The ending is full of hope. © Common Sense Media. Yes, says Annie, she could. See something that needs to be addressed? His patience and taciturn gentleness help the girl heal as well. I honestly feel The horse whisperer is a better movie than the book on which it’s based. Brief violence and lots of tension in top-notch classic. In films going back to "Jeremiah Johnson," Robert Redford has shown that he has a real feeling for the West--he's not a movie tourist--and there is a magnificence in his treatment here that dignifies what is essentially a soap opera. Both adults begin to see the other as the ideal mate they've always been looking for. The camera dwells on the wide expanses of Montana vista, paralleling the whisperer's unhurried therapy technique, one that takes the long view. Now he's famed for using patience and a gentle touch with difficult horses. In the movie, it is dismal and depressing. "S--t," "hell," "damn," "Jesus," "Christ," "SOB.". Great book, tragic ending. The star rating reflects overall quality. Mr. Get A Movie Rental. "This is me," Tom tells her, looking around at the ranch. "The Horse Whisperer" is about a man of great patience, faced with a woman, a child and a horse in great need of it. What to Watch, Read, and Play While Your Kids Are Stuck Indoors, Common Sense Selections for family entertainment, Check out new Common Sense Selections for games, Teachers: Find the best edtech tools for your classroom with in-depth expert reviews, 3 aplicaciones para aprender las tablas de multiplicar, Actividades sobre el Mes de la Historia Afroamericana, Which Side of History? He handles her with respect, and there's a nice moment when he asks her to drive the ranch pickup. She can't drive, she says. It evokes the healing serenity of wide-open spaces. I would love to visit the Taj Mahal one day. And Tom sees in her what he needs to see in a woman--what he saw in his wife until she left. except the methods to train Pilgrim at the end were horrible cruel, a true horse whisperer would never do that, thats old fashioned breaking in. The movie was really good but the book is amazing and very different to the movie. Her mother gambles that The Whisperer can heal both Pilgrim and her daughter. But in the movie, the two characters remain forever prisoners of love that never was, and will die in regret. Right at the start of the book, horse and rider together suffer a life-threatening accident and are forever changed. Their farm workers believe the horse should be put down (it's fearful and skittish), but Annie reads about a famed "horse whisperer" named Tom Booker who heals troubled animals. I’m not a prude but this was one time that a love story was definitely not called for. Be the first to review this title. The impact is blurred so the gore is minimized, but a horse's bloody wounds are shown. Judith and her horse die. A girl who loses her leg finds a reason to live. Performances are as beautiful as the scenery is magnificent. The Horse Whisperer is a 1998 American Western drama film directed by and starring Robert Redford, based on the 1995 novel The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans.Redford plays the title role, a talented trainer with a remarkable gift for understanding horses, who is hired to help an injured teenager (played by Scarlett Johansson) and her horse back to health following a tragic … We're updating our reviews to better highlight authentic stories and accurate, diverse representations. Offers. A mother seeks Tom out because she believes that he can heal her maddened horse and perhaps her maimed daughter as well. The young and eerily precocious Scarlett Johansson already has the stillness and intelligence of her later work. The Horse Whisperer. There aren't any reviews yet. The heart of the film is in Big Sky country, where Booker runs a cattle ranch with his brother Frank (Chris Cooper) and Frank's wife, Diane (Dianne Wiest). And so Redford and his writers, Eric Roth and Richard LaGravenese, were correct to supply their story with a different ending than Nicholas Evans' climax. I liked the ending of the book more than the movie, although most people probably wouldn't. ... of course the whole thing is lighter than the book, but the ending was DEFINITELY different! ... Alternate Ending was formed when three friends realized they all shared a passion for movies. Those deaths and injuries inform all … Love grows between them in unspoken words and quick glances, and eventually it appears that Annie is destined to leave her husband and stay on the ranch with the Bookers. Parents need to know that The Horse Whisperer is a 1998 movie based on the Nicholas Evans novel of the same name. What works is the beauty of the Western country, the tactful way Tom deals with Grace and the touching scenes in which the damaged horse is healed. Maybe that's because she sees the West in terms of a Redford film. ). Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. We display the minimum age for which content is developmentally appropriate. How do the characters in The Horse Whisperer demonstrate communication and self-control? The Horse Whisperer is about letting go of old pain, useless baggage, and self-destructive ways. The name of this book speaks for itself, for I think there are surely few who have not heard of the movie made from this book THE HORSE WHISPERER. Does the slow pacing of The Horse Whisperer have an echo in the story being told? The elements are borrowed from elsewhere; there's a touch of The Bridges of Madison County in the married woman's love for a man who represents freedom, and a touch of My Friend Flicka and its sequel, Thunderhead, in the treatment of a rebellious horse. This Spoils the Ending In the Book: In the Movie: No Differences have been entered. We won't share this comment without your permission. Most Hollywood films are doing well to create even one deep, well thought out meaningful character role in a film. “The Horse Whisperer” explores THREE lives in its necessary almost 3 hour length. The Horse Whisperer is an excellent must see movie. It wasn’t much of a book and I was glad Redford changed the ending – hero survived, heroine went home to her husband. And then there's "The Firm" (John Grisham). Our goal is to save you time and money by sharing our thoughts and recommendations on which movies to race to theaters for, which to watch at home and those to actively avoid. The horse whisperer-good movie, but the book was better (and a Completely different ending!) Alternate Ending was formed when three friends realized they all shared a passion for movies. I found Nicholas Evans’ novel to be tedious and bloated. Teenager Grace MacLean (Scarlett Johansson) is riding her horse and is hit by a truck. '40s screwball romance still charms; lots of drinking. Booker (Redford) turns her down over the phone, but she's a Type A compulsive who decides to drive both the horse and her daughter to Montana and confront him directly. In watching the horse's transformation, it appears that everyone involved also comes away gentler, more patient, and more understanding of themselves and others. . Find more movies that help kids build character. The Horse Whisperer (Book) : Evans, Nicholas : After a terrible accident, Grace retreats into silence and her horse, Pilgrim, is driven mad by pain. When life gets difficult, don't give up and hide; stay and fight. Her daughter fears "no one will ever want me" with only one leg; if the horse heals, Annie thinks, maybe Grace will heal, too. How Technology Is Reshaping Democracy and Our Lives, Celebrate the history and culture of the African diaspora and the achievements of people with African roots on Wide Open School, Online Playdates, Game Nights, and Other Ways to Socialize at a Distance, Keeping Kids Motivated for Online Learning, Drama Movies That Tug at the Heartstrings, 5 Tips to Make Family Movie Night a Success. Do you know any? The scenes between Tom and Annie are more problematic. The book was more Hollywood than the movie… This life has imbued Tom Booker with an empathy that allows him to identify with pain, and for me the best scenes involved his careful touch with Grace. It's important to let go of useless obsessions. Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free. The story moves a little too slowly, but it respects its characters, and even the lawyer from New York, when he finally arrives out West, turns out to be a person of insight and intelligence (his confession to his wife is really more touching than anything Tom says to her). These mystical things, metaphor and myth, are so much harder to do in movies than in books. Gone With the Wind is the greatest romantic book and movie, IMO. : Watching Gene Kelly From a Child's-Eye View by Ethan Warren. Robert Redford directs the movie and also stars as Tom Booker, the “whisperer.” Well-known as an actor, producer, director, and environmentalist, Redford is also a horseman and Utah rancher. How does horse whispering work? While self-control is important, one can be in control all the time. It depicts an accident that kills a girl and her horse and seriously injures another girl and horse. The Horse Whisperer. The ending of the book requires that the horse whisperer, who is a kind of angel in one sense, to move on in order that the healing can be completed. Which part of the movie suggests that? Before she burns her bridges, I'd advise her to see "City Slickers." It evokes the healing serenity of wide-open spaces. The Horse Whisperer (1998) Synopsis: Based on the novel by the same name from Nicholas Evans, the talented Robert Redford presents this meditative family drama set in the country side. The Horse Whisperer is a complex and moving story told about believable characters whose lives all eventually revolve around one horse and his girl. And … Your privacy is important to us. Witty, stylish musical classic will entertain all ages. "No time like the present to start," he says. People should tell themselves the truth. Could you live here?" Tom was married once; it was love at first sight, but it didn't last because his city-born wife found that the ranch had "too much space for her." Saved by Ranker.com. Why are these important character strengths? Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners. Grace and Pilgrim (her horse) survive but not unscathed. The Horse Whisperer (1995), a contemporary novel by Nicholas Evans, concerns a young woman Grace and her mother, Annie, who both grapple with the aftermath of a tragic car accident that kills Grace’s friend and one of their horses.Grace’s parents have different ideas of how to best help their daughter recover, creating tension in the family that they work through over the … He leaves lots of space for the horse to come around on his own. Love Movie I Movie Robert Redford Movies The Horse Whisperer Horse Books Wonder Book Christian Families Love Me Forever Family Movies. Contained within Nicholas Evans's novel ''The Horse Whisperer'' is the blueprint for a voluptuously soapy movie, a blueprint that Robert Redford wisely chose to ignore. The Whisperer could calm wild horses with softly whispered secrets uttered into troubled ears. Add/Edit a Difference. Nicholas Evans encapsulates human personalities, love, and the magnetism of sexual attraction--all with his amazing, constant skill. See our. The movie is not only a better version of the book, it's a work unto itself. Some of the scenes filmed were done by Buck, not Redford. All rights reserved. Families can talk about how the filmmakers decided to tell the story at a slower pace than many of today's movies. A girl and her horse are killed in a collision with a truck. Those deaths and injuries inform all aspects of the rest of the nearly three-hour story. To describe the plot in this way makes it sound cornier than it feels. 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. Suggest an update to this review. And while I suspect that an unhappy New Yorker who moves to Montana is likely to become an unhappy Montanan, I concede that the myth is comforting. In films going back to "Jeremiah Johnson," Robert Redford has … Mediocre movie, mediocre ending. 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). Our ratings are based on child development best practices. and he acted like a predator. These methods work equally well with women, as both Grace and Annie discover; the girl's anger dissolves, and her mother, a brittle workaholic, finds her hyper personality dissolving in the mountain air--as she falls in love with Tom. It's important to find your place in the world. How does the film want viewers to feel about natural beauty, wide-open spaces, and country living, as opposed to city living? And while I suspect that an unhappy New Yorker who moves to Montana is likely to become an unhappy Montanan, I concede that the myth is comforting. If you chose to provide an email address, it will only be used to contact you about your comment. The Horse Whisperer Book vs Movie Add A Difference .