War Horse Review

“War Horse” marks Steven Spielberg’s return to the war genre since “Saving Private Ryan.” The veteran director slathers his latest project with his distinctive and entertaining style, but the film is ultimately shortchanged by its sentimentality.

Jeremy Irvine plays Albert in "War Horse."
Courtesy DreamWorks Studios

Spielberg begins “War Horse” with grandiose shots of Devon, a picturesque English countryside with luscious, green hills and a charming town, in the year 1914. Here a young boy, Albert, peers through a fence and witnesses the birth of a thoroughbred foal. Albert eagerly attempts to befriend the horse as they both grow up, but eventually the horse is taken away to be sold at auction. As the horse gallops into the auction corral, Albert’s father, despite needing a work horse, is astounded by its majesty and impulsively purchases the animal.

As his family is on the verge of bankruptcy and without a suitable work horse, Albert promises his distraught mother and remorseful father to train the horse, who he names Joey, to plow the family’s farm. Albert and Joey form a bond, and, against all odds, Joey eventually plows the field and saves the farm.

After a leisurely half-hour of exposition, war is declared, and Albert’s father sells Joey to a British officer, Captain Nicholls, to finance more of his debts. Teary-eyed, Albert pleads with his father and Nicholls to keep Joey in Devon. His pleas are futile, but the officer promises to take special care of Joey.

After this incident “War Horse” charts a different narrative course. For the remainder of the film Joey falls in the hands of multiple owners amidst the savagery of World War I, and each owner serves as a sort of episode within the movie. With each new owner the film depicts a different perspective of the War, including those of Germans, Britons, and a French girl. Some of these episodes are more refined and poignant than others, but all of them are very short. Indeed, the audience can expect that Joey stays with one owner for only a matter of minutes before finding itself with a new one. Due to their brevity, the episodes feel underdeveloped, and this ultimately hampers the film’s thematic impact.

“War Horse” does not primarily focus on the thematic elements of war; rather, the film concerns itself with themes of hope and friendship. Spielberg, famous for his not-so-subtle sentimentality in many of his films, does not hold back here. The film is crafted to be a feel-good tear-jerker, but its sentimentality is slightly overshadowed by the horrifying nature of war. It’s difficult to care about a horse (as one critic put it: anthropomorphism can only go so far) while men cut each other down with machine guns and artillery shells blast them to pieces. Of course, some audience members may have to break out the tissues while watching the film, but for others the sentimentalism in “War Horse” may seem slightly misplaced.

There are some redeeming elements in the film. In the hands of lesser directors this movie could have been a disaster, but Spielberg manages to apply his unique and entertaining style and make “War Horse” a decent film. The film boasts captivating visuals as well as a superb orchestral score from John Williams. There are a few set pieces – particularly the battle sequences – that are fairly impressive and commensurable to those in “Saving Private Ryan.”

In the end, however, “War Horse” proves to be an adequate film, but one that is unremarkable.

Did you enjoy this review? Check out more reviews by Derek here.

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