I was initially put off watching War Horse for a few reasons. First of all it's a film that could only be sentimental, and secondly it is directed by Steven Spielberg. Now Spielberg is obviously one of the best directors of all time, however he does have an annoying tendency to make his films overly sentimental in parts. For example I think that Saving Private Ryan is a near perfect film, near perfect because of the ending, we've just seen the experiences of the soldiers, so to see an old man crying adds nothing at all, it merely rams the point down our throats. Other examples of my dislike are the ending to AI, The Ending to War of The Worlds, and then aspects of some other films that it would take too long for me to go into. Where Spielberg gets it completely right is where he either levels his sentimentality with cynicism, or just ignores it altogether. So when I started hearing reports of 'not a dry eye in the house' my cynical brain told me to stay away.
But I soldiered through my prejudices and I went to see War Horse regardless. Overall I would say I enjoyed it too, and that it was worth going to watch it. This doesn't mean that I think that the film is without fault, far from it. The film has a very episodic feel too it. I guess when you're following your main character as a horse, there can sometimes be some things left out. The very fact that this horse manages to go through no less than 5 different owners in the space of the film is perhaps one of the reasons for this. The horse begins life being sold to the father of Albert, a young man who spent a lot of time watching this particular horse when it was young, he is therefore naturally ecstatic to discover his fathers purchase and forms the strongest connection of any of the owners with the horse. Then the horse is taken away to war with a captain in the British army. This is probably the most natural of the changes in scene, war had already been brewing behind all the main story so the connection was fluid.
However the next change in ownership feels a lot more jarring. I won't go into specifics here as I don't want to ruin anything, but the horse changes hands fairly quickly, never really allowing the story to develop, with characters that I felt were underused for how they were developed. He then gets free and ends up on a French farm with a young girl and her father, then goes back into fighting, then freedom again (but still in a warzone), then reuniting once again with Albert and back to a life outside of war. The premise of the film is all about how this one horse changes the lives of everyone he meets. My problem with this is that the very idea of the film, the basic principal that drives it is one that already makes me angry with sentiment, however, if it had been tied together nicely it would be almost forgivable. Unfortunately it isn't always the case.
Thank God then that it is Spielberg behind the camera then, because what could have been a complete mess of a film actually has some moments which are breathtaking, some of the shots are simply wonderful in this, and in the same way that Tintin (despite being a disappointing film in my opinion) had some beautifully inventive moments, so too does War Horse, proving that even being in the business for 40+ years can't get rid of your creativity. However, whilst the direction is superb, and the acting spot on, the basic story of this film just failed to engage me in the way that it seems to be doing with other people. I understand why people go and see sad films, and whilst I may never have cried in a film I don't find the idea repulsive in the slightest. I do have a problem when that sentiment is rammed down your throat, in this instance I don't feel the fault lies with the director, but with the script, it has moments of brotherhood that defies class boundaries and even (at one point) the fact that your on opposite sides of a war. This is a film that plays into every convention going story wise, and for that reason it fails to be a great film. It is skillfully made, so go and watch it for that, but I wouldn't expect to be blown away, and come awards season if this wins many awards I won't be surprised, but I will be disappointed.
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