Movies War Horse

Score: ****1/2 out of *****

Long Story Short: Get ready to use some tissues in War Horse, a touching adventure story yet also at times a gritty, effective tale of World War I. Joey the horse carries the emotional torch admirably, while an impressive string of great human performances along the way gives it a compelling narrative flow as well. Another home run for Steven Spielberg.

War Horse marks the third holiday-season film I've now seen in theaters (I'm going to see one, possibly two more, then write my 2011 movie review wrap up). The main appeal in this movie was my favorite director, Steven Spielberg, and his usual musical sidekick, John Williams. Since Saving Private Ryan is the best war film I've ever seen, I also thought Spielberg would do a great job with another one, this time set in World War I. The film has no big stars, although you'll likely recognize a few people here and there.

War Horse begins with a brief prologue showing the title horse in question, Joey, being raised from birth, always under the fascinated watch of young adult man Albert. The day comes when Joey's owner is ready to auction him off, and Albert's drunken father overpays for him to Albert's delight. The family needed a work horse but Joey is a thoroughbred; Albert loves him so much, though, that he pledges to train Joey anyway. Even as Joey and Albert enjoy success, war strikes England and Albert's father sells Joey off for the war effort.

With Joey on the Continent, the film follows him over many miles and many various people that pick him up. Each encounter shows a different aspect of life during World War I, and how a faithful animal like Joey could change things dramatically. As you might expect, Albert joins the army in order to find his old friend, and he also becomes another link in the larger war story. You'll probably be able to predict many of the plot developments as you watch this, so I won't bother spoiling any more details about it.

War Horse is, oddly, rather like Rise of the Planet of the Apes from earlier this year, at least in that the main character is an animal. There is, of course, a big difference in that Apes' Caesar was simply the motion capture image of a real actor, while War Horse used real horses (eight different adult horses for Joey, according to Wikipedia). I have no idea to what extent you can train a horse to "act," but scene by scene, a combination of filming techniques and the horses' own movements create incredibly moving yet not over the top "performances." Joey really is a horse the audience "gets to know." Jeremy Irvine, Albert, is the main human character; he does an OK job, I suppose, but entirely forgettable (his role isn't that big anyway, fortunately).

There's a whole host of supporting actors, as Joey goes from place to place - and they all do far better than Irvine, fortunately. For the England scenes, Albert's parents (Emily Watson and Peter Mullan) are superb, as is landlord Lyons (David Thewlis - Lupin from Potter films). Tom Hiddleston has a brief but striking role as Captain Nicholls; Celine Buckens and Niels Arestrup have great chemistry as a young French girl and her grandfather; and there are several fun foot soldier roles later in the film, such as those by Toby Kebbell and Hinnerk Schonemann. Really a great, if largely unknown, cast.

War Horse has often been described as "old-fashioned" storytelling; take that as you will. To me, it's an interesting hybrid of serious historical fiction with sentimental individual journey. Thus, it's important for the film to achieve a reasonably accurate and interesting picture of the times and match that with a good arc of emotional development. Spielberg made sure to give his film the same authentic feeling that is in Private Ryan and Band of Brothers, and it is perhaps even more effective here in some ways since there aren't nearly as many WWI films as WWII films. War Horse is also known as a tearjerker, and that is quite true - from beginning to end, in fact (especially, of course, if you love animals). The film does a neat job of using Joey's development as the emotional structure, but also seamlessly introducing the steady diet of supporting (human) characters that parallel Joey's journey. There are a few special effects, but it is mostly the vivid landscape that catches the eye. For the ear, John Williams' score is particularly effective at the beginning before there's much dialogue; after that, I admit I was too swallowed up in the story to really notice the score much.

***

For a final comparison, War Horse reminds me of True Grit from last winter; two somewhat straightforward adventures that focus on their emotive leads and succeed with great casts and terrific execution. You may find that War Horse tries too hard to get the tears flowing in some parts; on the other hand, the film is not afraid at all to reveal the brutality of the war and the instant coldness of its deadly consequences. I guess, then, that perhaps a little over-the-top sentimentality at times would be necessary to get through such a violent yet pointless war. The film also includes Spielberg's underrated sense of humor, at the appropriate times. Well-done all around, from Joey to the stench of the trenches, and War Horse is certainly one of the best of the year.