There's something holy about the relationships between girls and their fathers. Even beyond Freud's Electra explanation, there's a fascination and idolization among young girls of their father figures. The same worship among girls at the elementary level surrounds horses. In our collective memory there is a girl in the back of the classroom, her eyes a million miles away, dreaming of ponies and unicorns. These fascinations are celebrated in John Gatins' "Dreamer."
In the ultra-competitive world of horse racing there is no room for compassion. A horse's life is only as long as its success on the track. But when a prize horse takes a career-ending fall, veteran horse trainer Ben Crane (Kurt Russell) doesn't have the heart to put her down in front of his daughter, Cale (Dakota Fanning). Together, the pair nurse the horse back to health, finding their relationship again in the process.
"Dreamer" is a film about families, the magic of childhood, and about realizing dreams. More than any other horse film, "Dreamer" is about a father who has lost himself in his work and left his family behind. But Ben's view of the world is guided by the innocence of his daughter in seeing that dreams can become realities, and that showing him success is sometimes as easy as believing in one's self.
"Dreamer" proves once again that horses are very conducive to cinematography. They are all muscle and color, towering above the actors like bronzed statues. Watching the racing in "Dreamer" is like watching an art film: A fog swept racetrack, the pounding hooves, strained tendons and glistening backs making the curve. The power and majesty of the horse passes through the screen and into the viewer, and soon the theatergoer's eyes are as much in awe as Cale's. Horses are a humbling species, and they make for a humbling drama.
That said, there are aspects of "Dreamer" that transcend the director's intentions, turning the lead roles of the film into bit characters. Think of "Seabiscuit," another true story, from 2003. We have the same horse trainer found in Kurt Russell, again with the same sort of magic touch that first presented itself in "The Horse Whisperer." We have the same fallen jockey that Tobey Maguire played, only now wounded on the track and not the boxing ring. The themes also ring true. Horses have been made by the cinema into symbols of hope, of childhood dreams, and of accomplishing the impossible.
This is what "Dreamer" builds off of. It takes these symbols and uses them to construct a moving story about the need for dreams, in both children and adults. It doesn't matter that "Dreamer" is telling the same story as every other horse film, because that story is a timeless one. There will always be more 12-year-old girls, and that relationship is as constant as horse racing.
