War Horse
War Horse, through stunning visuals and a lot of manufactured emotion follows the military exploits of an English stallion into the war to end all wars. Fold in 1914 the colt is such a beauty he enchants Ted Narracott (Peter Mullan), an agrarian tenant, to literally bet the farm he works with wife Rose (Emily Watson) on this horse rather than purchase a sturdier stud. His son Albert (Jeremy Irvine) names the thoroughbred Joey and manages to turn this metaphorical silk purse into the sow's ear that they need but it's all for naught. The only luck the family can muster is war breaking out and the army’s sudden willingness to pay dearly for fast mounts. Early on this adventure prove that yesterday's cavalry is no match for modern machine guns and all too soon a rider-less Joey ends up in German hands. While on the continent he shares the company of two doomed infantry deserters then a frail French farm girl and her grandfather (Niels Arestrup) before being pressed into hard labour with the German army. Although we constantly wonder if Joey will ever be reunited with the now conscripted Albert who loves him the most memorable union isn't between this horse and that young man. It’s between two witty entrenched foot soldiers, one German the other British who risk certain death to meet in no man's land on a rescue mission of our four legged warrior. At almost 2 1/2 hours War Horse surely will beat by at least a furlong the length of the puppet play it is based on. Too bad in all that time it fails to make any legitimate emotional connection with its audience. Oh well, C'est la guerre.