Dakota Fanning is working up quite a nice resume of top-notch films and blockbusters that she is going to be able to look back on as quite a success. Getting her start in C.S.I., E.R., Ally McBeal, Spin City, and The Practice just to name a few, she has only really been in movies since 2001 when she co-starred with Sean Penn in I am Sam. 12 movies later, she is Cale Crane in Dreamer. I have to say that I have become a quick fan of hers, and I am constantly impressed that a 12 year old can be so good in these roles. I surely hope she can make it from child actress to adult star, but she has a few more years to reach that point in her career. For now, we get cute Dakota in the role of a little girl in this film.

Dreamer is a story that is in part inspired by a true story. Inspired is the key word here, because it is very loosely based on the story of a famous horse named Mariah's Storm. That horse had a terrible injury that she was able to come back from after a lot of hard work. The injury was nowhere near what the horse in this film when through, but that doesn't really matter in the scheme of things. I think that the only reason to even note that this one is inspired by a true-life counterpart, is that it brings a greater sense of reality to the story. I don't think it was really needed though, because this film was done in such a way that disbelief is removed from the equation, and we are instead left with a strong story that can support itself.

Kurt Russell plays Ben Crane, who has owned a horse ranch for some time now, but his ranch is now the only one that has no horses. Instead, Ben works for another man named Palmer (David Morse), who buys/sells horses for a rich prince. Ben has been reduced to a job that only brings him happiness from working with horses, and he finds his advice ignored for the most part. These people only care about winning, and treat their horses as a piece of real estate, rather than as a living, breathing, creature. Ben is the best at what he does, and everyone knows it, but his success at horse training, hasn't translated to a success in his relationship with his daughter Cale. They have not been on the same page for quite some time, but finally Cale convinces her father to let her go to the track one day.

On the track, a freak accident takes place, and Ben saves an injured horse from being put down. That horse is Sonadore (Dreamer in Spanish), and he takes her in, instead of having to kill her. The broken leg causes her to be written off by everyone else in the industry, but Ben and Cale have hope in what Sonadore can do. Dreamer then becomes a story not only of a horse being nursed back to racing health, but of a family that is able to share an experience together. Elizabeth Shue plays Lily, mother to Cale, and wife to Ben, while Kris Kristofferson plays Ben's father. In a family that has had a hard time really acting as a family, they finally have something in common, and it could lead to the braking down of walls that have formed over the years.

Dreamer quickly becomes a very endearing, and beautiful story about horses and family. All of the acting is great, with Dakota Fanning leading the way as the scene stealer. No other child star could have carried this film the way that she did, and it must have been an obvious choice when they were casting for the part. Russell, Shue, and Kristofferson were also quite good in their roles as well, and it was amazing to watch them all tone it down for this family film. And that is exactly what Dreamer really is, a film designed to appeal to a wide audience, and done in the perfect way to be uplifting for nearly anyone that sees it. The cinematography was exemplary, the shots of farmland and racing were as good as in Seabiscuit, and the story was strong enough to be emotional to even this viewer. I really enjoyed the film, and even when it is predictable, it stays true to itself, and wins out as a beautiful film in the end.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD