Michael Morpurgo‘s sensational bestseller about a boy and his horse gets a lavish treatment by screenwriter Richard Curtis (Four Weddings And A Funeral) and director Steven Spielberg. Wearing its ample heart on a large sleeve, the chipper attitude and black-and-white emotion recalls family films of the late 60’s. Thus War Horse trots or gallops depending on your taste for old-fashioned storytelling.

It’s 1910 and stubborn young Albert (newcomer Jeremy Irvine) saves the family farm from an unforgiving landlord with help from his fine stallion Joey. But war is looming and Joey is needed on the battlefields of France. Seconded into the cavalry, the noble steed soon has more adventure than any horse ought to including adoption by a French farm girl and capture by tank-toting Germans. Now trapped in the Somme, so too is Albert by another path: but will man and beast be reunited?

War Horse is a rousing tale and an amazing story of an extraordinary friendship. Lovingly shot by Spielberg, every frame resonates with emotion as he grapples with the notion of courage in all its forms. Unusually for the director, it also oscillates wildly from the truly distressing (Joey’s battle with barbed wire) to downright corny (Albert’s clichéd family complete with comedy goose). It’s curious - Spielberg knows his way around the reality of war better than most yet opts for arch characters and a story book patina – less Saving Private Ryan, more Gone With The Wind.

It comes down to a matter of preference. There’s no questioning the beautifully staged production, and in all his forms Joey is a thrilling presence on screen (albeit one that frequently upstages his two-dimensional human co-stars). Mercifully, gore is kept off screen and each chapter of Joey’s journey maintains a compelling pace. War Horse sounds its notes well, but fails to develop into the full throated symphony demanding audiences might have hoped for.

// COLIN FRASER
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