The Horse Whisperer (1998)
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A woman seeks out a legendary horse whisperer to help her injured daughter and their traumatized horse heal from a tragic accident.
The story
After a tragic accident on a winter morning in New York, teenager Grace MacLean is left with a partially amputated leg and her horse, Pilgrim, becomes uncontrollable and traumatized. Her mother, Annie, a determined woman, refuses to let the horse be put down and seeks out Tom Booker, a 'horse whisperer' living in the remote Montana mountains. Tom agrees to help the pair, but only if Grace participates in the healing process. The two families move to the Booker ranch, where the bond between the horse and girl begins to mend, while Annie and Tom find themselves developing a mutual attraction despite their complicated personal lives.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Following a tragic accident in New York where Grace MacLean is injured and her horse, Pilgrim, becomes traumatized, her mother Annie seeks out Tom Booker, a 'horse whisperer' in Montana. At the Booker ranch, Tom works with Grace to heal her and the horse's fears. As they progress, Annie and Tom develop a mutual attraction, complicated by Annie's marriage and Tom's past. The status quo is disrupted when Grace's father, Robert, arrives at the ranch. Annie must choose between her feelings for Tom and her family. Ultimately, as the MacLeans prepare to leave, Annie realizes she belongs in the city and departs, while Tom watches her leave from a hill.
- First release year
- 1998
- Runtime (minutes)
- 169
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Robert Redford
- Writers
- Eric Roth · writer; Richard LaGravenese · writer
- Cast and characters
- Robert Redford · Tom Booker; Kristin Scott Thomas; Sam Neill; Dianne Wiest; Scarlett Johansson · Grace MacLean; Chris Cooper
- Genres
- drama; neo-western
- Themes
- healing; trauma; mother-daughter relationships; nature
- Tone and mood
- graceful; slow
- Setting
- New York and Montana, USA
- Premise and plot tags
- horse training; recovery; romance
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was noted for its visual intensity and steady pacing, though some critics noted its slow storytelling.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 73% · scale: percentage · review count: 63; Metacritic · score: 65 · scale: 100 · review count: 19
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Original Song · nomination; Golden Globe · Best Motion Picture – Drama · nomination; Golden Globe · Best Director · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film's popularity led to the word 'whisperer' being used as a slang term.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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