GetOut Magazine

'Dreamer' trots to an easy, heartwarming win
By CRAIG OUTHIER
Get Out

More wholesome than a petting zoo and every bit as tame, "Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story" is like “Seabiscuit” for the “My Little Pony” crowd. It's a bright and mythic story of broken horses, broken jockeys and broken families, mended one and all by the love of a little girl.

As 11-year-old Cale Crane, “War of the Worlds” scream queen Dakota Fanning is presented with a familiar task: Helping an emotionally blocked cinematic father figure get in touch with his inner feelings. That would be Cale's daddy, down-on-his-luck Kentucky horse trainer Ben Crane (Kurt Russell).

Driven to near-ruin by a failed horse-breeding venture, Ben is forced to sell off pieces of the family's lush backcountry estate to stay above water. He rarely talks to Cale anymore. And he never talks to his grizzled, disapproving father, Pop (Kris Kristofferson) — a Moses-like figure who hides out in an adjacent cottage.

As a last-ditch attempt to stave off foreclosure, Ben purchases a crippled championship-caliber filly from a bigoted, unfeeling horse broker (David Morse from "12 Monkeys") and tries to breed her. When that doesn't work, he gives the horse to Cale, and watches in stunned paternal amazement as she loves the horse back into racing shape.

An unlikely run at the Breeders' Cup ensues (the only part of this supposedly "true" story even remotely rooted in truth), along with much heartwarming rapprochement and cultural outreach. (Luis Guzman from "Boogie Nights" and Freddie Rodriguez from "Six Feet Under" chip in nifty supporting performances as the horse's groom and jockey, respectively.)

Sports-minded filmmaker John Gatins (he previously wrote the script for "Summer Catch") displays a confidently sentimental touch in his directorial debut. "Dreamer" is awash in lovely images and moments, and Fanning — as a girl growing up on a horse farm bereft of horses (could there be a more horrendous irony?) — gives one of her most natural and endearing performances yet. The bedtime scene where Cale declares her love for her stubborn, careworn daddy is one of those rare "trailer moments" that still impacts beautifully, even though you know it's coming.

The only character that fails to clear the gate is Cale's mother, played by the usually dependable Elisabeth Shue (“The Hollow Man"). Saintly to the point of blandness, she's such an endlessly forgiving character that if Ben went postal and hacked everybody to bits, you get the feeling that she'd pour him a cup of coffee and scratch his head.

‘Dreamer'
Starring: Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, Kris Kristofferson, Elisabeth Shue
Rated: PG (mild language)
Running time: 102 minutes
Playing: Opens Friday at Valley
theaters
Grade: B-