War Horse (2011)

War Horse (PG-13) - Review

"Horsey Sauce"

Steven Spielberg's fixation on war and it's effects turns to the livestock as an Irish family and their horse get sent off to the trenches of WWI.  Based on a novel, filtered through the exacting lens of Spielberg's aesthetic, the story comes across overburdened with sentimentality yet somewhat lightened by those Steve Spiel moments of clarity... a shot of the reflection in a horse's eye, a German Calvary muster officer who loves horses and hates sending them to their deaths, a snowy night behind the lines.  The cinematography comes across as "too perfect", like a photograph that has been air brushed to death.  The story is hardly ground breaking, but the action plentiful and dramatic, the acting top tier.   The whole project just feels like a midnight ride on a well worn path that Spielberg can do with his eyes closed.  The nag will find her way home on it's own.

5.5 Saber Rattles out of 10 (MEDIOCRE)