Um Caminho para Virginia

This is a wonderful family film in the tradition of Disney. For every female who loves horses, this film will touch in a way no other film can. Yes, the plot twists can be seen coming but this does not change the good feeling that the end leaves you with. Gabriel Byrne is wonderful as the father who just wants to protect his children. This is a movie to be watched with a large bowl of popcorn and a large box of tissues.

I loved this film...I cannot wait for it to come to theaters in the United States. This is one of those movies that sneaks up on you. At first, you think it is going to be a simple film about a girl and her horse, but it is loaded with action, death-defying action, and really pays off in the end. I saw it in Toronto at the festival....WOW!...the reaction was a standing ovation!!

O.K. you can see the plot twists coming a mile way but the film ends up being a pleasant experience and a notch better than the usual 'girl and her horse movie' mainly because of the superior production. There is some beautiful Nova Scotia scenery and many shots of galloping horses to delight the horse lovers.

The acting is generally good although Gabriel Byrne's mind seems elsewhere and he tends to mumble his lines and that, with his Irish accent makes him difficult to understand sometimes. The two young girls playing his daughters however bear the brunt of the film and they are both excellent and pretty. There is sentiment in the movie but it never gets maudlin. The scene where the girls reminisce about their dead mother is genuinely moving.

The lengthy final endurance horse race is well done and the suspense is maintained until the end as the bad guys (more jerks than anything else)try their skullduggery to stop Virginia from race. The kids will love it when one of them gets his comeuppance in that old cliche - the horse trough.

There in nothing scary for the kids and when the film is over you are left with a nice warm feeling, which is the way this type of film should leave you.

Definitely NOT meant to be accurate or an actually detailed horse documentary, it is a story made by film makers about a girl and a horse, not a film made by horse experts. An expect on call would of been nice, but I like how an effective film about people was made to the point that I didn't care.

I wouldn't know a quarter from a stallion or whatever, and the closest animal I have been close to is my cat, but I love that others love animals and actually do stuff in real life with them, like competitions and shows. And that they have a capacity to LOVE them and be loved in turn.

It makes us as humans so much more, more dimensional and more conscious that we share this planet with OTHERS, and how we act toward them reflects on us.

The movie goes for all the heart string clichés. And don't think for a moment that is a bad thing. I LOVE heart tuggers and the more one can put in a drama, the BETTER. And what better than a hurting young family that struggles and copes with devastating loss and still manages to live and love... and learn from each other.

I love National Velvet as well and the spunky and spirited young actresses reminded me of each other. I also love the siblings (many in National Velvet, the older sister in Virgina's Run) as growing up I know that they may mess you and compete with you but will be there for you if the chips are down.

I just know this one is a keeper.

Magnificent family entertainment. Nice to see the bad guy dressed totally in black, just like the good old cowboy movies! My nine year old daughter was on the edge of her seat from beginning to end, relating to the young women who were struggling to win, and to the magnificent horses.