War Horse

 Take a seat- and bring your cushion- because from previews to credits this is an astounding 3 hours. Which is not to say that is the only thing it has in common with Gone With the Wind. Speilberg mercilessly rips off battle casualty scenes and orange shaded shots into the sunset- no kidding, I expected Scarlett to show up waving a yam at least twice. I digress. It's a "boy and his horse" movie. It's based on the children's book (war themes) series (1982) and then the play (London now Broadway) and now is this overwrought film. I enjoyed it  but the editor in me went crazy on occasion.  The background is WWI- a personal favorite of mine for the sheer stupidity and loss of it all. Of course, the horse was a very important part of war prior to humvees and drones. War horses were sometimes famous depending on whose rear sat atop them. The viewer does grow to love this horse (Joey). And we root for the kid who trained it. But it is almost as sappy in spots as Heidi. It's too bad the Dutch girl in the film couldn't be played by Shirley Temple about 70 years ago. Aw, I am being too harsh. It is really kind of brutal in spots- horses are shot, people are shot, Joey gets an up close and personal experience with barbed wire- and for that, I don't think a kid under 10 should see this. Go at your own peril. Speilberg has become a bit of a crap shoot, and I can't decide if this was worth the 3 hours. If you love horses, go on and see it.