SpookyPie88

It's embarrassing, cringy, sickly sweet, unoriginal, but, God help me, I do like this film. It's not going to win any awards, and I'd definitely change the channel if someone walked in and caught me watching it, but it's adorable and uplifting with a positive message. It's the sort of film where you get the impression that the only thing the creators wanted to achieve was to put a smile on your face.

If you love horses as sentient and amazing creatures, capable of thoughts and feelings and deserving of respect, then avoid this film as it will just infuriate you. If you love horses as riding equipment or as something to show off on Instagram, you'll probably enjoy it.

Katy (Alison Lohman) doesn't love horses, she loves riding them. There is a difference. If she loved Flicka she would have been just as satisfied watching her run free as a wild mustang, but instead she had to imprison her and break her so that she could ride her and feel 'free' at the expense of the poor horse.

I've always been a fan of Alison Lohman, but this film managed to ruin that. She is completely miscast as a sixteen year old free- spirit (read: spoilt brat). In her mid-twenties during filming she is just too old for the part, highlighted by the casting of parents so close in age to her. The character is so thoroughly unlikeable and seemingly perpetually miserable.

From what I have heard the book is for a mature audience, but this film adaptation is most definitely for rednecks or the brain-dead Lifetime market.