>>REVIEW
FLICKA
STARRING Alison Lohman, Tim McGraw and Maria Bello
DIRECTED BY Michael Mayer
Friday, October 20
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Flicka is a great movie to inspire some family bonding.
When I heard I would be seeing a movie about a father and daughter on a ranch in Wyoming, I could think of only one person to see it with – my western-movie-loving father.
Based on the novel My Friend Flicka, by Mary O’Hara, Flicka is an inspired tale about the unbridled spirit of a young girl and the powerful connection she shares with a wild horse.
Shot in the beautiful mountains of Wyoming and in Los Angeles, Flicka focuses on a teenage girl named Katy (Alison Lohman). Lohman provides the depth and quiet force needed to make Katy believable as a tenacious teenager struggling to be understood by her father.
While away at boarding school, Katy cares little for academics and often daydreams about being home on the ranch. She fails her final exams, making her summer homecoming tainted by the disappointment of her father. While on a ride through the mountains, Katy comes across a mountain lion. Afraid and vulnerable, she is saved when a wild mustang comes to her aid by scaring the lion away. Katy becomes obsessed with making this horse her own.
Katy ends up getting the horse to the ranch and names it Flicka (meaning young girl in Swedish). Her father, seeing what an untamed, wild animal Flicka is, forbids Katy from going near her and makes plans to sell Flicka to the rodeo. But, of course, as daughters sometimes do, Katy ends up disobeying her dad and working with Flicka during the night in order to one day ride her.
The family dynamic is explored with Tim McGraw giving a respectable performance as Rob, Katy’s father, and Maria Bello as Nell, her playful mother. There is a power struggle between Katy and her father, but what it comes down to is Katy’s need to be uninhibited and her father’s responsibility to protect her, even if it comes across as more ruthless than he intends. The bond between father and daughter is touching and the relationship is shaped wonderfully throughout the movie.
Director Michael Mayer does a great job keeping this family movie light enough to be child-friendly. The excellent direction and the compelling acting make Flicka poignant enough to move adults to tears, my Dad and me included. |
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