Hidalgo

2004

Directed by: Joe Johnston

Written by: John Fusco 

Main Cast:

Viggo Mortensen - Frank Hopkins
Zuleikha Robinson - Jazira
Omar Sharif - Sheikh Riyadh
Louise Lombard - Lady Anne Davenport
Adam Alexi-Malle - Aziz
Saïd Taghmaoui - Prince Bin Al Reeh
Silas Carson - Katib
Harsh Nayyar - Yusef
J.K. Simmons - Buffalo Bill Cody
Adoni Maropis - Sakr
Victor Talmadge - Rau Rasmussen
Peter Mensah - Jaffa
Joshua Wolf Coleman - The Kurd
Franky Mwangi - Slave Boy
Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman - Chief Eagle Horn 

Rated PG-13  

To sum up: Hidalgo is the greatest long distance racing horse ever and he's going to the Arabian Desert to prove it. 

“You know what you're up against, American friend? The Ocean of Fire is not just a race. It's full of obstacles you can't even imagine. And if the elements don't kill you, your fellow riders will.”
“Sounds an awful lot like South Dakota.”

     The main reason to see “Hidalgo" is to stare into the dreamy eyes of the film’s star, Viggo Mortensen. Even though he’s dirty, with messy hair, a scratched face, and crusty lips desperately in need of some lip balm, he’s still the hottest thing in the Saudi Arabian desert.

     Here he plays Frank Hopkins a half Native American army courier. Eventually one of the dispatches he delivers results in the famous Ghost Dance Massacre at Wounded Knee. I went to a college where they didn’t allow dancing but this is overkill. Dejected and burnt out, Frank becomes a drunken fool performing for Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show during the 1890’s.

     Here he seems destined to drift into oblivion save for one thing; the renown of his horse named Hidalgo.  Though he isn’t a purebred horse, Hidalgo is able to consistently win all of these long distance races. Some Arabs get wind of the claim of Hidalgo being the best and are offended by the idea of an impure breed being called that and want the claim rescinded. They argue that Frank and his horse would not last in the famed Arab "Ocean of Fire" race - a 3,000 mile adventure vacation where you get to run out of water, brave blistering heat, desert sandstorms and race a bunch of Arabs to the finish line. So one entry fee later, Frank is headed to the Middle East to compete in this “greatest of races”.

     Don’t worry about whether or not such a race ever actually took place. Even though the film is based on the life of Frank Hopkins, I suspect that the inspiration is as loose as a pair of pants on a Jenny Craig graduate. This film comes off as an adventure film more than anything.

     That’s kind of the problem, it’s not exactly sure what kind of film it wants to be. Is it a character study where Frank finds a new focus on life through a baptism of the desert sand? Is it portraying triumph over adversity by an underdog? Is it a comment of the superiority of “Western” thinking, where all men (and horses) are created equal and can achieve anything through hard work and perseverance? Is it an Indiana Jones style shoot-em-up right down to the rescue of the kidnapped princess? Is it about the horse and how this tiny animal has more heart than his bigger Arabian brethren do? It is all those things and because it is too many things, the film’s focus is as hazy as an oasis on the desert horizon.

     Since the film is called Hidalgo, you can bet it should be about a horse. And what a horse! He will stay tied up until whistled then untie himself and run to his master. It’s a cliché that horses instantly come when someone whistles at them. It’s a good thing that none of the Arabs whistle to call their horses. With 100 people all whistling for their steed, these poor horses wouldn’t know which way to go. Either that or like mother seals hearing their young, horses are able to pick out the distinctive pitch of their owner’s whistle.

     Though a lot if time is spent on telling us how great the horse is, they don’t spend a lot of time showing us. There are instances where the greatness of Hidalgo is shown, particularly in some running moments. Ands when he lines up at the starting line when Viggo is about to give up, he seems to know more than us mere humans. Yep he has a big heart. But there is never really a good shot of Hidalgo squaring off against his Arabian brethren. More was needed of this. The horse also seems to have endurance beyond far beyond any normal animal. His hooves can start to split, he can be impaled with spikes, he can drip blood from his nose, he’s working so hard but through it all he keeps going and going. He’s the Energizer Horsy. It’s nice to know he has heart but when Hidalgo gets impaled through the leg with a pike and lets Viggo cut him free (it was only a flesh wound through the skin) and after that let’s the wound be cauterized with a hot pike and is up and running shortly after that, it stretches the bounds of believability just a bit.

     Viggo is good producing an honest burnout who happens to have a heart of gold. There is also a clear bond between him and the horse, really the one creature in the film he relates to. Omar Sharif as Sheikh Riyadh the Arab leader is charmingly disarming. It’s good to see the old boy basically reproduce the same type of character he played in “Lawrence of Arabia”. Zuleikha Robinson as the strong willed daughter Jazira is both exotic and vulnerable. Though she isn’t more than a wanna-be liberated woman trying to survive in a sexist culture.

     As a distracting adventure film, “Hidalgo” will do the trick. It has scenic vistas aplenty and though a bit long will entertain none-the-less.

     If there’s nothing else to do, you can all go to “Hidalgo”.

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