Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

I bought this movie about 2 weeks ago because I happened to be wandering around a Hollywood Video with money in my pocket and time on my hands. Normally I veer away from live action Disney. They don’t seem to put as much time into story development with the live action movies as they do the animation. Any old plot they pull off the shelf is good enough. Well, this box had a horse on the cover so I picked it up and read the back. Boy falls in love with horse, is forced to sell horse, rescues horse from cruel new owner. I started to put it back.

Then one name caught my eye. Lucas Black. Many of you may recognize the name from Sling Blade. I knew it from American Gothic where Lucas Black played the character of Caleb, illegitimate and unclaimed son of the town sheriff, Lucas Buck. (Buck, by the way was probably the devil, spawning may jokes while I was watching it of "I am your father. Lucas." It was funny at the time.) Lucas Black might also be remembered as the kid who fell in the hole at the beginning of the X-Files movie. So I bought it and vowed to get around to it someday.

Someday was today.

First, let me say that the box completely misrepresents the story. Based on the tag line I expected Flash to be like that movie Disney did about the girl teaching the geese to fly. It wasn’t. The Strong family lives on the edge of financial disaster along with most of the rest of the community. When this horse Connor (Lucas Black) has been visiting after school every day goes up for sale he asks his father to buy it for him. When the father hears the price ($500) his jaw drops and he says no, shortly there after he mentions that he thinks he’s going to be able to get another week’s work out of whatever job he’s doing. So the kid goes and gets a job without telling his father (but with Gran’ma’s permission.) Once he has the job he goes to the owner of the horse and offers to pay in installments. The owner says no because he can’t afford to wait for the money. In the mean time, Dad and Gran’ma are trying to pull the ends close enough together to make them meet and Dad proposes that he go back out to sea to earn the money they need to get caught up on the mortgage and give them some breathing room. He goes and as a parting gift, buys the horse for Connor. Then things start going wrong. First the bank takes the money they had in savings to apply toward the mortgage. Then the credit card won’t go through leaving them without money for food. Then Gran’ma gets a job at the mill to cover their expenses. The stress is too much for her and she has a heart attack and dies. Connor sells his horse to a mean wealthy guy to get Gran’ma a better coffin. He begs to work on the stables for free just to be around the horse and the mean wealthy guy agrees. Then the bank forecloses on the house. Connor hides out in the rich guy’s stables until one night the horse kicks rich guy’s son (after son whips him horribly) and breaks his arm. Rich guy decides to shoot horse. Connor steals the horse and decided to ride to the docks in New York and meet his dad who he’s sure can fix everything.

It’s a Disney movie, you know how it ends. The plot is ok. All the I’s are dotted and the T’s crossed. Everything it tied up neatly at the end. Based on the fact that the ending had me choked up I’d say the average 10 year old that hadn’t been through this plot dozens of times will like it. Connor overcomes hunger, cold, rain and injury to get his horse to New York (he starts in Georgia) to save him from the mean rich guy. He’s a good strong kid and a good role model. Lucas Black did a really good job with the role, playing him young, but not too stupid or too smart. The rich guy’s son is also a good role model for kids. His father is unreasonable and wrong and the kid, in the end, learns to stand up to him. The kid in this role wasn’t as good. He seemed nervous all the time, too nervous. It’s good enough to fill an afternoon when the kids can’t go outside. I wouldn’t run right out and look for it, unless I had a kid in the middle of the throes of horse craziness who wanted to see everything. Flash also does deal, sort of, with the expense of horse ownership as well as the amount of time needed to do fun stuff like muck out stalls which might put a slight damper on horse craziness, but probably won’t.


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8