Dreamer - Ein Traum wird wahr

Cale Crane (Dakota Fanning) lives on a horse farm with no horses. Their farm is holding on with her mother Lily (Elisabeth Shue) working as a diner waitress. Her father Ben (Kurt Russell) doesn't get along with his father Pop (Kris Kristofferson). Ben trains horses for the rich owner Palmer (David Morse) who races his horse despite Ben's advise. The horse is injured and Palmer wants to put her down. Palmer fires Ben. Ben takes the horse for compensation. Partly through obsession, partly through skills, partly with love, and the hard work of everybody including Manolin (Freddy Rodriguez) and Balon (Luis Guzman), they bring her back to health. It's a roller-coaster ride when they find out that she is infertile.

This is an unabashed sentimental movie. Russell is great as the strong solid father under pressure. It's a good move that his character is healing the horse for the money rather than any moral stance. Fanning is adorable enough and spunky enough. It's a terrific underdog story. The movie is full of familiar clichés. It's probably too overloaded with them but Russell and Fanning make them work most of the time.

As a long time horse racing fan and a former horse loving little girl, this movie had to go on my must see list. I would definitely recommend it for all families - and the adults may be surprised how much they enjoy it also. There is one scary scene for some young kids when the filly breaks down early in the movie - but this scene is part of the commercials that already have been on TV, so it should not be too much of a shock. As a racing fan, I found a few points that stretched credibility, but this is a "dream" after all, and they do point out that putting a filly or mare in the Breeder's Cup Classic has hardly ever been done, much less expecting she can win enough of the purse to justify the high entry fee needed. Even Azeri, who was a horse of the year, ran 5th when she took on male horses in the Classic. Sonador could have run in the Breeder's Cup Distaff instead, paid less for the entry fees, and still have astounded everyone with a win (when Mariah's Storm, the "inspired by" horse ran in the Breeder's Cup Distaff after her injury she did not win). Over all the movie does a pretty good job of representing the factual background (children can't generally be licensed as race horse owners, but the plot certainly works much better this way!).

I do think that if they are going to make "Inspired by a true story" part of the title, they should have provided information about this some where - perhaps as a post script at the end - but they do not. You have to find interviews with the screen writer to learn that it was inspired by Mariah's Storm who broke her leg as a 2 year old when she was expected to be a favorite in the 1993 Breeder's Cup Juvenile Fillies, but later returned to racing and won several graded stakes races. She has gone on to be the dam of several stakes winners, including Giants Causeway, who is one of the studs they admire at Ashmore Stud when looking for a horse to breed Sonadore to. Mariah's Storm is 14 years old now and is still having babies. I suspect that on their trip to the breeding farm we may be seeing the actual retired race horses, as the studs shown (Fusaichi Pegasus, Giant's Causeway, Johannesburg, Grand Slam) are all actually owned by Coolmore Lexington (formerly Ashmore Stud) in Kentucky. While inspired by Mariah's Storm, the movie is not really based on her. In fact, at one point, the characters talk about Mariah's Storm, when saying it may be possible for Sonador to race again after her broken leg, just like Mariah's Storm had. Grand Slam (the horse they considered breeding Sonador to) also made a comeback from an injury he suffered running in the 1997 Breeder's Cup Juvenile.

An uplifting, heartwarming movie...inspires one to dream and dream big. It's a must see, especially for the lovers of horses. Rivals the Horse Whisperer as my favorite movie revolving around horses. Kurt Russell is great, as always. Dakota Fanning is a very special young actress, perhaps a greater talent at her age than Drew Barrymore. Kris Kristofferson play his usual gritty character. And last but not least, it's great to see Elisabeth Shue on the silver screen again. She is a natural beauty and a great actress. The movie is very timely in that it involves the Breeder's Cup, which, at the time of this writing, is coming up this weekend. It's a movie for all ages, and if it comes out on DVD before Christmas, it'll make a wonderful gift.

My wife dragged me to this movie and I kinda thought I might enjoy it, so, I didn't fight it too much. Once the movie started and I got into the plot, I was hooked. My wife started crying within the first 15 minutes and she didn't stop until we walked out of the theater!!! It was the good kind of crying... not bad!!! Take the WHOLE family to the classic Disney type story!!! If you have any ability to follow how these types of movies go, then you will know the outcome long before it happens... it doesn't matter because you'll be wanting that outcome and you'll embrace it when it happens!!! Good acting, as always, from Kurt Russell and even Kris Kristofferson showed some range. Young Dakota Fanning has to be one of the most talented actresses of our time!! I could never see her as a 'child actor'... she an actress that just happens to be a child!!! GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!! You won't be sorry!!

Well, I just got through watching this much-anticipated film (by me) and it didn't disappoint except for one thing: I thought it was a true story. I didn't play close enough attention to the word "inspired" in the title because, unlike the story of Seabiscuit, this isn't what really happened.

It's based on a nice comeback story a real racehorse, Mariah's Storm, which did make a great comeback from a serious injury but not to the extent of what happens here in this movie. This was exaggerated to the hilt for dramatic purposes, but that's okay once you know that because the story is, indeed, "inspirational."

Most important, this is about as nice a modern-day film as you will ever find. There's nary a swear word, hardly even a raised voice. There are nice characters and a sweet, family-friendly tone to it with a tear-in-your-eyes Seabiscuit-type tale and ending.

Dakota Fanning once again demonstrates why she is the greatest child actor of her generation. Kurt Russell is excellent, too. Ole Kurt must be mellowing these days playing subdued nice guys like this. It's good to see. The same goes for Elisabeth Shue. This is a far cry from her role in Leaving Las Vegas. Even Kris Kristofferson holds his tongue in this film! Amazing.

Like Seabiscuit, this also is beautifully filmed. I wonder if any sport is filmed and is just surrounded by all this beauty in real-life, too, like horse racing? It IS "the sport of kings." There is some spectacular scenery in here, much of it in Kentucky and where better to be when filming a horse racing story?

So, if you and your kids - or just you - want to settle in for nice film, and you're looking for a pleasing, nice-looking, feel-good story you absolutely cannot miss with this film. Very highly recommended.