`FLICKA' RIDES ON IN GENTLE NEW ADAPTATION.Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer The horse's name means ``beautiful young girl'' in Swedish, and the 16-year-old lass who discovers her roaming wild in scenic Wyoming forest land is every bit as headstrong head·strong adj. 1. Determined to have one's own way; stubbornly and often recklessly willful. See Synonyms at obstinate, unruly. 2. Resulting from willfulness and obstinacy. and, yes, untamable as her eventual equine equine Any member of the ungulate family Equidae, which includes the modern horses, zebras, and asses, all in the genus Equus, as well as more than 60 species known only from fossils. Equines descended from the dawn horse (see Eohippus). companion. What, you expected anything less from a four-legged beast sporting the name Flicka? Proudly carrying that ``of another era'' scent, ``Flicka'' -- the latest remake of Mary O'Hara's 1941 novel, ``My Friend Flicka'' -- is a coming-of-age tale that proves as gentle as its subject is wild. The question is hardly whether a horse named Flicka can be tamed, but whether a girl who is at one with the land can convince her father that the land is where Katy McLaughlin belongs. Rob McLaughlin (played by country crooner Tim McGraw) has his doubts. He's got an 18-year-old son, Howard (Ryan Kwanten Ryan Kwanten (born 28 November 1976) is an Australian actor. Kwanten was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He began acting on the television shows A Country Practice and . ), who has been working the family ranch while Katy (Alison Lohman) has been in prep school. Trouble is, it's Howard who wants to go to college in Boston while Katy yearns to work the land, and both are afraid of dad. Mom Nell (``A History of Violence's'' Maria Bello Maria Elana Bello (born April 18, 1967) is a Golden Globe-nominated American actress. Biography Early life Bello was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania to an Italian American father and a Polish American mother. , in the tamest role of her career) loves her children, handles her husband and stays out of any potential father/children fracases. And then there's Flicka, the mustang mustang [Sp. mesteño=a stray], small feral horse of the W United States. Mustangs are descended from escaped Native American horses, which in turn were descended from horses of North African blood, brought to the New World by the Spanish c.1500. who will either end up a pet or a rodeo sideshow See Windows SideShow. . Katy finds her, nearly breaks multiple bones trying to capture her, and then spends stolen evening hours (she's forbidden to get near Flicka) trying to earn her trust. Co-writers Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner Lawrence Konner (born September 14, 1949) is an American screenwriter and long-time writing partner of Mark Rosenthal. Konner began as a television writer, writing for the shows Little House on the Prairie and Remington Steele. lean awfully hard on the girl-and- horse-as-kindred-spirits analogy, and director Michael Mayer (``A Home at the End of the World'') indulges a passion for filming horses in motion while Katy talks about the importance of nature. That said, the scenery is gorgeous, with Ventura County often filling in for rural Wyoming. Lohman (``Matchstick Men,'' ``White Oleander'') doesn't stretch the credibility of playing yet another adolescent. She and McGraw create an authentic dad-daughter dynamic (although we could probably have skipped the tearful bedside vigil). Yeah, Katy and Rob are, themselves, a lot alike, each with an equal amount of growth to experience. And who better than a friend like Flicka to bring that growth about? Evan Henerson, (818) 713-3651 evan.henerson@dailynews.com FLICKA - Three stars (PG: some mild language) Starring: Alison Lohman, Tim McGraw, Maria Bello. Director: Michael Mayer. Running time: 1 hr. 34 min. Playing: In wide release. In a nutshell:A horse not exactly of a different color but heartwarming heart·warm·ing or heart-warm·ing adj. 1. Causing gladness and pleasure. 2. Eliciting sympathy and tender feelings: a heartwarming tale. Adj. 1. none the less. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Katy McLaughlin (Alison Lohman) and her dad, Rob (Tim McGraw), find peace in the beauty of Wyoming in ``Flicka.'' |
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