|
|
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cowgirls Only Sometimes Get the Blues, June 29, 2002
A mean girl, horses, handsome young men, horses, girlfriends, boys, horses--this movie has everything a young girl on the verge of her teenage years could want. My daughter discovered this movie last weekend, just after returning home from a combined swimming pool/horseback riding birthday party and right before uncovering her case of chicken pox. (mild, fortunately.) Since we've been encountering some problems with a mean girl in school, the nasty, spoiled rich girl in the story who has nothing kind whatsoever to say to anyone, except when she's trying to manipulate people, held my attention. I confess, I cheered (quietly but vociferously) when she fell off her horse. But that's not really the main focus of the movie. Here's what this movie, based an Australian TV series, which itself was based on a series of books by Bonnie Bryant--none of which we'd read or even heard of until now-- is about: Three likable girls, Stevie, Carol, and Lisa, all try to perfect their riding skills at an Australian riding club while
coping with the nasty Veronica whose stubbornness leads to the
death of her horse, their own changing interests,the impending birth of a foal, various other horse health crises, and the presence of handsome young fellows who work as stablehands. Oh, and a boy their age who is, in his own fumbling way, trying to figure out how to let one of the girls know that he likes her. Carol is still contending with the loss of her mother, a veterinarian whose shoes she'd hoped to fill, though she encounters doubts. Stevie is trying to stay out of
Veronica's way while maintaining her interest in horses, even as some of her friends strike out in other directions and Lisa is just trying to figure out life. The girls go through their paces with their horses, try to
ignore Veronica and her pal, await the arrival of the foal and visit with an old friend whose interests have changed. There are moments of bravery and derring-do, a little skulduggery (Veronica just has to do things her way, and the death of her horse slows her down only temporarily), and some rather wise, no-nonsense adults who pop in and out of scenes, offering mostly good advice. Thank goodness there were no truly idiotic adult types that we see so often on TV.
It is a pretty tame movie overall, but with great appeal to preteen girls. (Preteen boys would rather take out the garbage than watch it, I suspect.) We, or at least the junior person in the house, has seen it six times so far. There's nothing untoward in this movie, nothing to keep parents from letting their daughters see it, with the issues of developing friendships and rivalry sure to catch their attention. Because of the death of the horse, some younger girls may not want to watch this, though there's no actual death scene. Overall, it's a pleasant enough story with a few lessons for girls, and a wonderful musical theme called Hello World.
|
Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
DVD ~ Sophie Bennett; Keenan Macwilliam; Lara Jean Marshall
DVD ~ Saddle Club
DVD ~ Saddle Club
DVD ~ Keenan MacWilliams; Sophie Bennett and Lara Jean Marshall
DVD ~ Sophie Bennett
