The Review

It took ten years, but Kurt Russell finally got the Tombstone sequel that he was waiting for. Doc is dead, Mattie is history, but Wyatt is still Wyatt. After settling down with new wife Elizabeth Shue, Russel has spawned the adorable Dakota Fanning, also a lover of horses and gambling. When Russel, now a horse trainer, refuses to put down the injured Sonya because his daughter is watching, he is fired by new Cowboys gang leader David Morse and given the injured horse as severance.

Okay, I lied. Dreamer is not a Tombstone sequel. But you have to give it to Kurt Russell: He plays the role of a forlorn dad whose best days are behind him and whose daughter is now outshining him pretty well.

Dreamer is a lovely story based on an actual Daydream. There was a real horse called Mariah’s Storm who broker her leg and staged a dramatic comeback. But unlike the movie horse Sonya, a.k.a. Sonador (Spanish for Dreamer, hence the title), Mariah’s Storm did not return to win the Breeder’s Cup. She finished 9th. Granted, it wouldn’t have been a satisfying ending, but it would have taught parents an important lesson: An 11 year old is not ready to handle your family’s financial future, no matter how darling she is or how distant you’ve been as a parent. And it would have taught kids a lesson too: Don’t ever go all in on an injured horse.

“Dreamer” follows the sports drama formula pretty closely. Fanning is the coach, Sonya and her trainers are the team, Kris Kristofferson is the wise old mentor, and David Morse and his horse (of course, of course…) are the unbeatable opposition. Kurt Russell’s character, once himself full of promise and talent before being shelved, gives his tenacious daughter full decision-making control over the injured horse and his own injured psyche. Being an already critically-acclaimed actress, Fanning nurses leg and ego back to health with gallons of wisdom and cuteness.

This is a well-acted movie, although Sonya’s performance seems contrived at times. David Morse is particularly good as the kid-kryptonite jerk-face. Even his own daughters refused to speak to him for six weeks after this film came out. After my girls saw it, they caught a glimpse of him as George Washington during the “John Adams” HBO miniseries, and immediately decided James K. Polk was replacing him as their second favorite president.

Overall, Dreamer is a nice little film. Especially if you’re a dad who has recently gotten in trouble with your daughter. Grab this movie and a half-gallon of Moo-lenium Crunch ice cream. She will forget whatever it is you did to make her upset. Be advised, however, of the potential backlash. You can’t afford a new horse right now, and even if you could, you wouldn’t mortgage the house to keep her racing hopes alive. Grown-ups are supposed to veto those flights of fancy. Yes, kids have dreams, and dreams are cool. But for $200,000? No, not that cool. And if you get this far in actual conversation, expect her to return to her bedroom lair, slam the door and vow never to speak to you again. Don’t sweat it. She’ll be back as soon as she realizes you still have the ice cream.

The Kids

If you bring in little girls and horses, you can’t lose. Your daughters will like it, and there’s enough racing footage to keep the boy’s interest as well.

The Verdict: Almost Pleasant

How Annoying Is It? It’s not bad. Dreamer is a good little movie overall, as long as you can counteract the “kids are smarter than their parents” subtext. And you need to do this, you know. Really. Because kids aren’t all that smart.