So, there are two friends who fall into adventures and make a name for themselves as they do incredible feats, and then they run a huge race and prove that they are truly the best friends ever and then the Black Stallion... oh, wait. Wrong story.

There's a man. There's a horse. They're down and out, and are at the end of their rope and they enter the 'greatest endurance race' and travel to the Middle East and race against the most beautiful horses God's ever created in the most beautifully barren places God's ever created, and the human finally accepts his Indian bloodline and his horse accepts the fact that he's going to have to eat a locust if he wants to survive the mud bogs and the wild sandstorms and the absolute lack of actual grass and water for 3000 miles.

This, my friends, is the story of Hidalgo, according to Disney. There's quite a hubbub about the story's validity but let's just suspend disbelief for the moment, shall we? It's the reason we go to the movies in the first place, and seperates PBS from MGM. So, ignoring the fact that this story isn't *quite* true, let's examine what *is* happening. Viggo Mortensen loved being the man on a horse so much that he decided to continue being one in this movie. He's tired and dirty, and starts out as being drunk and rather disorderly. His long-suffering partner is Hidalgo, a beautiful Mustang paint. He's considered the best of the best, and they've won all the endurance races in America. However, some Arab takes offence and invites Hidalgo to enter a race in Arabia, where the Race of Fire kills off half the entrants every year. Since Annie Oakley and the rest of Wild Bill's staff pool their money together, Hidalgo and Frank have no choice but to go and represent the dying West. Off we go to beautiful lands where Omar Sharif still rules as the Sheikh with the best horses.

And this is why I like this movie: Horses. Sandy vistas where man's tracks are never permanent. Horses running. The desert in moonlight. Horses.

That's it. I'm shallow. I'm a horse-girl at heart. I had one in my youth and my dad's side owned/boarded for years, and I am absolutely enthralled with an animal that is, when all is said and done, a very large dog. They're loyal, smart, clever, and a joy to own. (Even when it requires feeding and watering them at 6a before school every day and it's so cold that wet hair *freezes*.) They will give their humans 110%, as seen in this movie. Horses might be 'born to run', but that doesn't mean they're stupid enough to do it in horrible conditions and with nothing to eat/drink--unless their human asks them to. Then they'll run until they fall. Arabians and Mustangs are physical opposites, but such beauty and nobility is immiately apparent. Don't believe me? Check 'em out:Arabians and Paints. Aren't they gorgeous? So imagine a movie *full* of 'em. It's like the Black Stallion, times 100, and without cranky Mickey Rooney.

*ahem* Back to the point. Disney gave the film to the man who directed Jumanji and Jurassic Park III, and it's full of the same kind of big-budget special effects we've come to expect from this kind of thing. Personally, I think Disney wanted their own version of The Mummy and got saddled with this. It shouldn't be surprising, since the author here also penned Young Guns, Thunderheart, and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. That track record should give you a good idea of what's going on here: a soft safe Disney movie where the drunkard becomes sober and the horse saves the day (and the other horses). I think the cinematographer was quite happy to work on something not constrained by the small screen, and she shows it with her loving pans of the desert.

One of the few things that surprised me is the violence in this movie. There's little swearing, there's nothing lascivious, but the violence in a few scenes (lopping off heads, an impaled horse) were a bit shocking to me. I guess I assumed it was a kid's movie, but perhaps more the tweens who are going thru a horse phase...I don't know. I'm horrible at judging which are age-appropriate films. But overall, I enjoyed the movie. Just put aside your sarcasm and suspend your disbelief, and ignore the rather broad stereotypes (as well as the question as to why a Bedouin would invite an infidel American to Arabia, why there's a random love plot halfway thru the race, and what Hidalgo is surviving on thru the race since we never see him eat), and sit back to enjoy a horse movie.

I loved it, I admit it. But I'm easy, so take it or leave it.