May contain spoilers! The Horse Whisperer is a favourite book which I have read many times, so I was excited about seeing the film. I read the reviews on IMDb first and was surprised to see many people saying that the love affair between Tom and Annie was irrelevant, but having now seen the film I can see what they mean. In the book their affair is beautiful and passionate, a true meeting of souls that they just couldn't help, and it was intrinsic to the plot and the healing of the whole family - if this seems unlikely read the book for yourself! The ending of the book (I won't spoil it for you here) has been called melodramatic by some but brings the whole thing to an end and a new beginning. However in the film their affair did appear irrelevant, a kind of add-on which did nothing for the story. I'm not usually a fan of Kristen Scott Thomas who is about as passionate as an iceberg (see The English Patient), but although I thought she was very good here the way the Annie's character grows and develops in the book was not shown in the film. The ending (of the film) was frankly bizarre - to just drive away without a glance seemed to show that Annie too thought the affair was not that important and betrayed the passion they felt for each other. Shame. Otherwise the film had a lot of good points - beautifully shot and acted (though Robert Redford would have been better for the part if he had been 20 years younger), with Grace especially being played very well indeed.
Review of The Horse Whisperer
