War Horse: Movie Review

Cast: Emily Watson, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeremy Irvine

Director: Steven Spielberg

So, Spielberg’s push for Mr Oscar begins here with this book fondly remembered by some from their childhoods.

Irvine stars as Albert, a lad living on a Devon farm in the UK, whose dad brings home a horse called Joey one day. Against the odds, Albie and his horse bond but trouble lies ahead in the form of the outbreak of World War One.

When Albie’s father realises the farm’s financially struggling, he’s got no choice but to sell Joey into the cavalry.

And it’s here that Joey’s adventure begins as he heads to France and into the lives of English infantrymen, German soldiers, and the middle of No Man’s Land.

But Albie can’t forget his horse – and soon Albie heads to the front line to see if he can find his foal…

War Horse is an unashamed family film and one which will tick a few emotional boxes too – but for the first two thirds of the film, it’s a curiously familiar and oddly detached piece with every kind of cliché you could need; a father who’s lost his sense of faith after the Boer war, a plucky kid who thinks he can overcome the odds, horses jumping over obstacles – they’re all there for the viewing.

Throw in a list of characters who jump in and out of the narrative and whom you invest time in only to see them taken off the screen and it’s hard to really support what’s essentially just a horse.

And yet, in the final parts of this film – and specifically when Joey ends up in No Man’s Land, there’s a real emotional pull which is extremely hard to resist. The sequence involving an attempt to free Joey by a handful of troops is a real lump in the throat moment and only then do you realise how Spielberg’s managed to capture you.

Spielberg also rolls out another truly harrowing sequence showing how devastating war is as the lads go over the top and it’s only really when he takes his foot off the schmaltzy directing that you remember why he’s one of the best. It’s here the brutality of war is shown and is so effective - compared to the other moments where he appears to shy away from the horrors of World War One.

War Horse is not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination; it’s beautifully shot and it’s perfect Sunday afternoon family fodder - which is a little slow to get going but is endearingly emotional when it counts.

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