Rober Reford directed The Horse Whisperer, a Western family melodrama starring himself, based on the 1995 best-selling novel of the same title by Nicholas Evans.
Redford plays talented trainer with remarkable gift for understanding horses, who is hired to help an injured teenager (Scarlett Johansson) and her horse back to health after a dramatic and ultimately tragic accident.
Released May 15, 1998, the move received lukewarm to positive reviews, and grossed $186 million worldwide.
In Lake Luzerne, New York, teenager Grace MacLean and her best friend Judith go out early one winter’s morning to ride their horses, Pilgrim and Gulliver. As they ride up an icy slope, Gulliver slips and hits Pilgrim. Both horses fall, dragging the girls onto a road and get hit by tractor-trailer. Judith and Gulliver are killed, while Grace and Pilgrim are severely injured.
Grace, left with a partially amputated right leg, is bitter and withdrawn after the accident. Meanwhile, Pilgrim is traumatized and uncontrollable to the extent that it is suggested he be put down. Grace’s mother Annie, a strong-minded and workaholic magazine editor, refuses to allow it; sensing that somehow Grace’s recovery is linked with Pilgrim’s.
Desperate to heal both Grace and Pilgrim, Annie tracks down “horse whisperer” Tom Booker, in the remote Montana mountains. Tom agrees to help, but only if Grace takes part in the process. Grace reluctantly agrees, and she and Annie stay at the Booker ranch where Tom lives with his brother and family.
Pilgrim and Grace slowly overcome their trauma, and Annie and Tom begin develop a mutual attraction. However, Annie is married and Tom’s wife left him because she belonged in the city.
Most emotional scene: Tom asks Grace to tell him what happened with her and Pilgrim. At first, Grace is reluctant, she eventually gathers up courage, and tearfully describes the accident.
Things change, when Robert MacLean, Grace’s father and Annie’s husband, unexpectedly shows up. As a result, Annie is torn by her feelings for Tom and her love for family.
With Tom’s help, Grace takes the last step to heal herself and Pilgrim – riding him again.
Robert tells Annie that he knows he loved her more than she loved him, and that if he could be a better father, husband, or lawyer, it didn’t matter. He knows she is not sure about her feeling, but he wants her to make a choice–not to come home until she is sure.
Annie wishes to stay with Tom on the ranch, but deep inside she knows she belongs to the city.
In the last shot, Annie drives away from the ranch, while Tom watches her from the top of a hill.
Cast
Robert Redford as Tom Booker
Kristin Scott Thomas as Annie MacLean
Scarlett Johansson as Grace MacLean
Sam Neill as Robert MacLean
Dianne Wiest as Dianne Booker
Chris Cooper as Frank Booker
Cherry Jones as Liz Hammond
Ty Hillman as Joe Booker
Kate Bosworth as Judith
Jessalyn Gilsig as Lucy, Annie’s assistant
Jeanette Nolan as Mrs. Ellen Booker
Allison Moorer as Barn Dance Vocalist
Stephen Pearlman as David Gottschalk
Joelle Carter as Office Worker #1
Gloria Lynne Henry as Member of Magazine Staff
Betty Buckley appeared as an ex-girlfriend of Tom Booker but was cut from the film.
Although he had already directed several films, this was the first time Robert Redford directed a film that he also starred in.
The main character is modeled after horse whisperers Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt and their younger disciple Buck Brannaman. Brannaman also doubled for Redford and served as the consultant. Redford likewise assisted in the production of the documentary “Buck.” Evans said, “The one who truly inspired me was Buck Brannaman. His skill, understanding and his gentle, loving heart have parted the clouds for countless troubled creatures. Buck is the Zen master of the horse world.”
