This lengthy romantic drama - clocking in at nearly three hours - is from the bestselling novel by Nicholas Evans and stars Robert Redford and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Tragedy strikes when young New Yorker Grace (Scarlett Johansson) loses her best friend Judith in a riding accident. Grace is deeply affected psychologically by the accident and the horse, Pilgrim, is in such a terrible condition that he is close to being put down. Grace's mother Annie (Scott Thomas) refuses to give up on either of them, and hopes that if the horse can recuperate, Grace will follow suit.
Together they travel to the wilds of Montana to enlist the help of Tom Booker (Redford), a man who specialises in rehabilitating difficult horses. The visit changes all their lives when Annie falls in love with the handsome rancher and faces the difficult decision of whether to return to her husband (Sam Neill) or stay in the West.
Redford directs as well as stars, and Johansson makes one of her first appearances on the silver screen. The cinematography is spectacular, boosted by the fact that the film is shot in a standard aspect ratio in the early New York scenes, but as the action moves to Montana the aspect ratio widens to do justice to the stunning scenery.
The Horse Whisperer is a Film programme that first aired in 1998 and has been classified a PG certificate.
