Review: Hidalgo
March 30, 2004; Loew's Boston Common #3
* * * (out of 4)
What must be said about this movie from the beginning is that it's just gorgeous. DIrector Joe Johnson and cinematographer Shelly Johnson provide a harshy beautiful landscape for the film's 3,000-mile race. In any shot where the director pulls his camera out wide, which he does a significant amount of time, rolling sand dunes are all that can be seen. Sounds boring, but these dunes are dynamic, and when we reach the portion of the race on the Arabian Desert's "Ocean of Fire," the bleakness and boiling heat are excellently shown.
This is a story based on the life of Frank Hopkins, played by Viggo Mortensen. Hopkins was a Pony Express courier with a mixed background: his mother was a Lakota Indian, and his father was an American Army scout. After carrying the orders for the disarmament of the natives and then witnessing the massacre at Wounded Knee, Hopkins leaves his position, bringing his horse Hidalgo to join Buffalo Bill Cody's (J.K. Simmons) Wild West Show. It seems Hopkins and Hidalgo have an incredible history of competing in cross-country distance races, in which the horse has never placed 2nd. An Arabian sheikh (Omar Sharif) has taken offense to Hopkins's claim that Hidalgo is the fastest horse in the world, and challenges Hopkins to participate in the Ocean of Fire race, becoming the first non-Arab to do so. Numerous side distractions are explored as well, involving the sheikh's too-liberal daughter, and a wealthy British patron involved in more than just the race.
I was pleased to see Viggo Mortensen playing a character very thoroughly removed from his Lord of the Rings alter-ego Aragorn; the only other role I had seen him in was Gwyneth Paltrow's lover in A Perfect Murder, so watching his stretch beyond the role that made him a superstar was a pleasant change. His Frank Hopkins is an American cowboy in every sense of the word, but Mortensen plays him with a grace and respect that pays tribute to the mythology of the cowboy figure in the American West. The best performance here, though, comes from Hidalgo, his horse. I haven't seen animal training and "acting" of this quality since Comet in the too-short-lived "Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." There are things the horse does that I never imagined a horse being able to do. More than than, Hidalgo has more of a personality than many of the supporting cast.
My biggest complaint here is that the film was slow. Yes, I realize it was based on actual events in Hopkins's life, but I feel like there were some sequences that could have easily been cut out. They didn't add anything to the movie, and could have been better replaced by more of the meat of the film, the race itself. However, there is good chemistry between Mortensen and his horse, and some beautiful sequences in the desert make this one worthwhile, maybe as a rental.
March 30, 2004; Loew's Boston Common #3
* * * (out of 4)
What must be said about this movie from the beginning is that it's just gorgeous. DIrector Joe Johnson and cinematographer Shelly Johnson provide a harshy beautiful landscape for the film's 3,000-mile race. In any shot where the director pulls his camera out wide, which he does a significant amount of time, rolling sand dunes are all that can be seen. Sounds boring, but these dunes are dynamic, and when we reach the portion of the race on the Arabian Desert's "Ocean of Fire," the bleakness and boiling heat are excellently shown.
This is a story based on the life of Frank Hopkins, played by Viggo Mortensen. Hopkins was a Pony Express courier with a mixed background: his mother was a Lakota Indian, and his father was an American Army scout. After carrying the orders for the disarmament of the natives and then witnessing the massacre at Wounded Knee, Hopkins leaves his position, bringing his horse Hidalgo to join Buffalo Bill Cody's (J.K. Simmons) Wild West Show. It seems Hopkins and Hidalgo have an incredible history of competing in cross-country distance races, in which the horse has never placed 2nd. An Arabian sheikh (Omar Sharif) has taken offense to Hopkins's claim that Hidalgo is the fastest horse in the world, and challenges Hopkins to participate in the Ocean of Fire race, becoming the first non-Arab to do so. Numerous side distractions are explored as well, involving the sheikh's too-liberal daughter, and a wealthy British patron involved in more than just the race.
I was pleased to see Viggo Mortensen playing a character very thoroughly removed from his Lord of the Rings alter-ego Aragorn; the only other role I had seen him in was Gwyneth Paltrow's lover in A Perfect Murder, so watching his stretch beyond the role that made him a superstar was a pleasant change. His Frank Hopkins is an American cowboy in every sense of the word, but Mortensen plays him with a grace and respect that pays tribute to the mythology of the cowboy figure in the American West. The best performance here, though, comes from Hidalgo, his horse. I haven't seen animal training and "acting" of this quality since Comet in the too-short-lived "Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." There are things the horse does that I never imagined a horse being able to do. More than than, Hidalgo has more of a personality than many of the supporting cast.
My biggest complaint here is that the film was slow. Yes, I realize it was based on actual events in Hopkins's life, but I feel like there were some sequences that could have easily been cut out. They didn't add anything to the movie, and could have been better replaced by more of the meat of the film, the race itself. However, there is good chemistry between Mortensen and his horse, and some beautiful sequences in the desert make this one worthwhile, maybe as a rental.
posted by Matt S. at
10:30 AM
