'War Horse' Receiving Early Oscar Buzz – Horse Racing – EzineMark

War Horse, the newest feature film from acclaimed director Steven Spielberg, opens at theaters nationwide Dec. 25. The war drama, which features an ex-Thoroughbred racehorse in the title role, chronicles the exploits of a horse sold into the British army that would go on to serve on both sides of World War I.

War Horse is based on a 1982 children’s book from British author Michael Morpungo that was later turned into a London play in 2007. DreamWorks purchased the movie rights to the story in 2009. According to reports, Spielberg,who had read the novel War Horse and had been turned to tears when he watched the stage production in London, quickly agreed to direct and produce the film.

Movie industry Web sites are reporting the movie has already been nominated for two Golden Globes and is likely to earn Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, among others.

Critics have praised the film for its cinematography and battle scenes while noting it oozes with sentimentality, a characteristic most would expect in a story about a man and his horse. The Arizona Republic described it as “unapologetically sentimental.”

The New York Times offered this review: “While “War Horse” is, like so many of Mr. Spielberg’s films, a work of supreme artifice, it is also a self-conscious attempt to revive and pay tribute to a glorious tradition of honest, emotionally direct storytelling.”

War Horse tells the story of Albert Narracott and his horse, Joey, who is enlisted in the British Cavalry and would go on to have several different owners that fight on both sides of the war. Narracott enlists in the British army in a quest to find Joey and keep him safe.

Fourteen different horses played the role of Joey in War Horse.  Further detail on the role of the horses was provided this week by the Thoroughbred Times. According to the story, one of the horses playing Joey is former racehorse Finders Key.  Finders Key didn’t make much of a racehorse—he was winless in three starts at Los Alamitos in 2002—but this is his second movie credit. He also played a role in Seabiscuit.

Stage actor Jeremy Irvine plays the role of Albert Narracott. The supporting cast consists of British, German and French actors.

So now the question is, will the movie “War Horse” help horse racing?  What will probably happen will be an increase in general awareness about horses, their beauty, their grace and courage. Whether this correlates to horse racing might be a stretch.

In the movie “War Horse”, the horse is a hero.  There are very few heroes in the sport of horse racing.  “War Horse” is a romantic yet suspenseful story focused on an amazing animal.  This reminds me of the 2003 movie box office hit “Seabiscuit”.  At the end of the day, “Seabiscuit”, which was all about horse racing, did not seem to create that much additional interest in our sport. 

If you do want to learn about horse racing we suggest you check out HorseRaceGame.com – an exciting fast-action game that allows you to breed, train and race your champion thoroughbreds (your own War Horse) against horses owned and managed by thousands of other players.