REINED-IN `HORSE WHISPERER' NEVER REACHES A GALLOP.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Daily News Film Critic

Robert Redford mines familiar territory both as an actor and as a director in his latest film, the adaptation of Nicholas Evans' sentimental novel ``The Horse Whisperer.'' That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not particularly exciting either.

The movie is a beautifully filmed homage to both the Old West and Old Redford. There's also a teen-age girl suffering from a horse-riding accident, a Type A mom with a case of the big-city blues and a magnificent steed that isn't quite right in the head. Needless to say, when mother and daughter and horse meet with Redford the iconic cowboy, they're going to be in for some healing, some loving and, yup, the ride of their lives.

If this sounds a little corny, Redford at least can be commended for roping in much of the melodrama that characterized Evans' book about a cowboy - a shaman as Evans calls him - who is able to heal horses, not to mention wounded people, because he is completely centered and connected. He's the kind of guy who wears boots and a hat and listens to Beethoven sonatas, an urbane cowboy who's equally at home on the range and in front of one while wearing an apron.

Redford gives this holistic hokum a mature, sophisticated sheen that occasionally packs an emotional wallop underneath. The film doesn't resonate much past the closing credits, but it contains enough small scenes and moments to recommend as a pleasing diversion and Big Sky travelogue.

``The Horse Whisperer'' opens with a tragic accident, so heart-wrenchingly captured that it earned the film its PG-13 rating. Grace MacLean (Scarlett Johansson) and her best friend, Judith, are riding their horses uphill on a wintry morning when the animals lose their footing on the ice and slide across a roadway, directly into the path of a semi-trailer truck. Judith and her horse are killed; Scarlett loses her leg, and her horse, Pilgrim, is bloodied and traumatized.

The veterinarians recommend putting Pilgrim down, but Grace's mother, Annie (Kristin Scott Thomas), a high-powered New York magazine editor, tells them to wait. She hops on the Internet, soaks up information on horses and learns of a man named Tom Booker (Redford) reputed to have almost mystical powers when it comes to rejuvinating emotionally damaged animals.

Annie calls Tom, but he doesn't want any part of the project. Neither does Grace, who has retreated into a shell since the accident. Annie's husband, Robert (Sam Neill), doesn't think much of the idea, either, but his opinion doesn't seem to count for much because the marriage is on the rocks. In fact, for the headstrong Annie, no opinion really matters but her own. So, she packs up Grace and Pilgrim and drives to Montana on a mission to remedy the horse and her daughter.

Redford subtly expands the frame to widescreen during the mother-daughter road trip, magnificently filming the sweeping terrain of the wide-open spaces. The film's pace shifts, too, from the frenetic noise of New York to the deliberate, thoughtful movements of the Booker ranch. This shift is central to the film's message that healing takes time.

It's a nice little lesson. Too bad it gets mucked up a bit with a romance that's shoehorned into the movie. Once she loses the cell phone and her beeper, Annie begins to realize that surrendering control can be OK and even liberating. Why she can't learn this without making goo-goo eyes at a cowboy is a mystery, apart from the fact that ``The Horse Whisperer'' is the kind of sweeping drama that can't seem to exist in Hollywood apart from mushy melodrama.

Redford, directing himself for the first time, fills Booker's well-worn cowboy boots quite comfortably. He's essentially playing the same rugged individualist he has throughout his career in films such as ``Out of Africa,'' ``The Natural'' and ``The Electric Horseman.''

Of course, he's older now, something Redford the director is the first to acknowledge, capturing every line and crevice in his weathered face. Even at age 60, though, he remains convincing as the romantic leading man, even if that believability, much like the open spaces of the West, is slowly disappearing.

Redford has certainly put his own stamp on ``The Horse Whisperer,'' giving it more layers and substance than found in Evans' novel. Clint Eastwood pulled off a similar trick three years ago with ``The Bridges of Madison County,'' but he also crafted a film that was full of moral ambiguity and tough choices. ``The Horse Whisperer'' doesn't rise to that level, which is too bad because, with the talent involved, it certainly had the potential of being more than a one-trick pony.

THE FACTS

The film: ``The Horse Whisperer'' (PG-13; disturbing accident scene).

The stars: Robert Redford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sam Neill, Scarlett Johansson.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Robert Redford. Written by Eric Roth and Richard LaGravenese. Based on the novel by Nicholas Evans. Released by Touchstone Pictures.

Running time: Two hours, 48 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Three Stars.

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Photo

Photo: In ``The Horse Whisperer,'' Annie (Kristin Scott Thomas) is convinced that Tom (Robert Redford) has almost mystical powers when it comes to rejuvinating emotionally damaged animals.