This is a guest post by the lovely Sarah Jenzen from Sarah’s Deals. She graciously agreed to attended a War Horse movie screening in my place so that I could still provide you all with a review of the movie. A great big THANK YOU to Sarah for the great review!
War Horse opens nationwide on Christmas Day 2011. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the setting is World War 1 in England and Europe.
The story follows a horse named Joey from countryside beginnings on his path through World War I.
Albert is the boy who watches Joey’s birth and immediately feels that the horse shares a bond with him. When Albert’s drunken father brings the horse home, Albert is determined to show his family that the horse is more than what he seems. Through patient training, love and determination, Albert brings out in Joey what he has always believed.
Fast forward to a stroke of bad weather and a family that needs to pay the bills and Albert’s father sells Joey to the growing army for the war. Through the film, Joey continues to touch the lives of the people he comes in contact with. From an officer, to German soldiers, to a young French girl and more, the horse passes through many hands in his journey and because of Albert’s training, keeps himself useful and alive.
The climax of the movie comes in an unlikely scene in no man’s land between the trenches in World War I. Though done with compassion and humor, it still didn’t seem as though it could have ever happened realistically. The end of the movie will leave many in
tears, both happy and sad.
War Horse is well directed and played, but there are points in the movie that it is a strong Saving Private Ryan (also directed by Spielberg) feel to the movie. The way the war scenes are handled cinematically, some of the staging and the interjected humor had
flashbacks to the other movie flashing in to the mind.
Despite the similarities to Saving Private Ryan, War Horse is a powerful movie of compassion and humanity and the bond that an animal can form between people.
Watch a clip from the movie:
Sarah Jehnzen is the author of Sarah’s Deals, a West Michigan based blog that’s “Helping You Live Better, For Less”. She posts regular sale matchups, coupons, reviews, giveaways and freebies as well as a variety of cooking tips, household hints, craft/decorating ideas, and other helpful information.
I want to see the movie so bad! Thanks for the review!
My hubby will love this movie!! Merry Christmas
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