War Horse (2011)

Tom Hiddleston, Geoff Bell, Joey, Jeremy Irvine, and Peter Mullan

After a rather lengthy hiatus, the Movies for Lunch Guys are back! Thanks to Dan for switching offices this blog has suffered greatly, and for that we make no apologies but merely set a new goal for reviewing two movies per month. For our return we watched War Horse, directed by Steven Spielberg. It is rated PG-13 for sequences of war violence. It was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Dan -
I have never tried to hide the fact that I love Steven Spielberg movies. I think I’ve seen almost every one of them. And hearing that he was making a movie like this, it should go without saying that I was excited to see it. I had no idea what the story of this movie was since the preview only seemed to show a horse running in various locations during World War I. What I did know was that the play War Horse won 5 Tony Awards last year, including best play, and I thought the movie was an adaptation of the play. I have since learned that both the play and the movie are based on a book. So with an award-winning play already adapted and a supremely talented director set to take the reins, I had very high hopes for War Horse.

This is the story of a remarkably strong and smart thoroughbred horse named Joey who is purchased (unwisely it first seems) to work on a farm in Northern England just prior to World War I. After the Great War begins, the horse is sold to the British infantry, and then changes hands/owners several more times throughout the movie. Meanwhile the boy who trained him, Albert, joins the army and longs to be reunited with Joey.

I am not an animal person. I've never had a pet, and between my wife and I we are allergic to just about every domesticated animal. That being said, the best thing this movie has going for it is Joey and, surprisingly, I found myself emotionally attached to him. I was rooting for him. Each time Joey changes owners is practically an emotional travesty - he is sold to the British Army by Albert’s father in order for them to keep their farm and is subsequently captured by the Germans. He is then discovered by a young French girl and is captured again by the Germans when they march through her farmland, and then ultimately escapes from the grueling clutches of the German army to what would seem almost a worse fate. Simply stated: Joey is put through the ringer, and so was I as I watched this horse endure trial after trial.

If I had one complaint about this movie it is that it feels, for lack of a better word, stagy at times. Not to the point of excess, but rather in the feel of it. For example, the lighting in the first half hour of the movie seemed phony and didn’t look natural at all. There is also a scene toward the end of the movie where a German soldier and a British soldier meet in No Man’s Land and carry on a rather polite conversation. This unlikely situation almost took me out of the movie if it wasn't for the scenes with Joey leading up to it that completely invested me emotionally in the outcome. But it serves the plot and artistic license must be taken (after all, it’s only a movie).

I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars. I wanted to love it more than I actually did, so there was a slight letdown. It took a while to get into it, but as soon as the war started I was hooked. This is a good movie and is in my top ten for the year 2011, but I was expecting and hoping for more.

Nerd Note: This is the second movie released in 2011 (the other is The Adventures of Tintin) that composer John Williams wrote the music for with director Steven Spielberg and the 25^th in total that the two have worked on together. Williams was nominated for an Oscar for the music for both War Horse and Tintin, raising his total Oscar nominations to 47! He is second only to Walt Disney who has 59 nominations. The next closest living nominee: Woody Allen with 23.

Mark-
War Horse tells the story of an amazing horse named Joey.  The film tells the story of Joey’s interactions with a number of individuals during a few months preceding World War I, and following through the duration of the war.  Joey’s journey begins when Ted Narracott ,a lowly farmer, sees great promise in Joey and purchases him for an above average price at auction.  Ted‘s son Albert shares in the faith of Joey, and takes it upon himself to train Joey into the horse that lives up to, and exceeds, expectations.  Due to unfortunate circumstances, Joey is forced into the war, with the hope and promise that Joey will be well taken care of, and returned to Albert when the war is over.  The events of the war bring Joey into contact with a variety of individuals, finding promise in the eyes of the English, German, and French.

Luck, for lack of any better term to use, is a prevalent theme throughout this film.  Unfortunately not all of the luck is good.  From the very beginning it could be argued that Joey had good luck in being bought by the Narracott‘s, but the Narracott‘s dire circumstances could also be termed as the bad luck that forced Joey into the war.  Throughout the war it could be termed good luck for Joey that in each of his interactions, he comes into contact with individuals who continue to see promise and respect in Joey.  The unfortunate bad luck in these circumstances is that many of these new interactions come about because of the demise of the previous interactor(s).

A clearly conveyed message of this film is that of support, and that each of the characters that came into contact with Joey were made better for it; not only better, but Joey was able to bring out the best in them.  Joey is also able to learn from each of the characters that care for him, and thus the support and kindness is shown between each of the characters and Joey.

The one thing I found somewhat interesting prior to viewing the film, is the notion that Steven Spielberg made a big budget film with virtually no star actors or actresses.  Granted there are plenty of distinguished supporting actors in the cast, but the absence of any big names actually helps the film more than any other detail in my opinion.  By having lesser known stars, and primarily only minor characters; the film is able to show and maintain that the major focus and star of the film is Joey.

Overall I enjoyed this film, to the extent that I would likely put in my top 10 movies for 2011, but not so much that it would make it in my top 5.  There are unfortunately a few parts that are slow, but there are also extremely compelling and gripping moments (my favorite being the meeting of the English and German soldiers between enemy lines).  4 *’s out of 5.  

My Random Thought For War Horse: My random thought for this film is really more of a random bit of trivia, courtesy of imdb.com.  There were a total of 14 horses that portrayed Joey in this film with the main horse, Finder, also having starred as Seabiscuit in its film.