 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Horse Crazy
- Review Date: January 5, 2012
- G
- Genre: Family and Kids
- 2006
Common Sense Media says
Modern-day Western for the whole family; some mild violence.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this feel-good contemporary Western about a horse-obsessed boy and his adventures with his sister and new cowboy friend has some tame Western-style fights and dramatic tension. One of the main characters learns an important lesson about honesty and being true to oneself.
What's the story?
Just before Christmas vacation, Tyler (Michael Glauser) sees a movie in school about wild horses in Nevada. Being HORSE CRAZY, he concocts a scheme to hide in the back of his older brother's truck when he goes to Nevada to visit his girlfriend. Tyler brings along his new friend Stoney (Jonathan Cronin) -- a new kid in school who claims to be a cowboy, and Tyler's sister Sam (Brittany Armstrong) also comes along for the ride. When Brad has car trouble, he finds the kids hiding in the back, and meets a local cowboy and his daughter who are bringing home their prize-winning horse. When bumbling horse thieves (Dallin Christensen and Scott Subiono) try to steal this horse, everyone must figure out a way to work together and recapture the horse.
Is it any good?
If your love of horses and the open spaces of the West is greater than your dislike of bad acting and predictable storylines, Horse Crazy should prove to be generally safe family fare. While there's only one horse in the film, regardless, young kids caught up in their own bouts of horse craziness should enjoy the mischievous adventures these kids undertake.
The vast lands where this is filmed (Arizona actually, and not Nevada) is quite beautiful, and comes very close to helping the audience forget the awkwardness of the acting. Nonetheless, it is a fun movie if you're looking for a Western that's appropriate for all-ages and manages to be exciting enough without being too violent.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about honesty and indentity. Why would Stoney pretend to be something he's not during his first day in a new school? Has there ever been a time when you or someone you has pretended to be someone they're not? Why is it better to be yourself? Where is it safe to try on new identities?
How easy or difficult do you think it would be to catch a wild horse with little or no training? How accurately does this film reflect the culture of the open spaces of the West these days?
What is the appeal of the Western-style movie?
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- Teens & kids
AGE
Count on the kids to save the day!
The characters in this movie are spunky and self-determined, although they also make some bad choices that get them in water that is way over their head. They get caught in the middle of the theft of a prize-winning racehorse and have to use their wits to escape, and, ultimately, to help the people they would rely on to save them, as well.
My seven year-old is a sensitive viewer, so what the reviewer, above, calls tame is about as tense as she can take. There were scenes of struggles, the kids were chased and some people wind up with their hands tied. But the action was mostly slapstick and the children were frequently leading the thieves on to trick them.
As an adult, I enjoyed the inventiveness of the kids and got caught up in the plot as well. It's on our list of family-friendly movies!
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| Topics: | adventures, friendship, horses and farm animals |
| Studio: | Allumination |
| Director: | Eric Hendershot |
| Cast: | Dallin Christensen, Marvin Payne, Scott Subiono |
| Genre: | Family and Kids |
| Run time: | 90 minutes |
| DVD release date: | February 14, 2006 |
| MPAA rating: | G |
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