'Hidalgo' takes 'Seabiscuit' long distance

After a "Lord of the Rings" series which put this prolific but unknown actor on the map, Viggo Mortensen follows up the hit fantasy trilogy with "Hidalgo," a buddy story about a cowboy and his horse who are famous for their success in long-distance endurance races. Its premise is similar to that of last year's "Seabiscuit," but while that film was set on the short tracks of horse racing, the races in "Hidalgo" reach upwards of thousands of miles across entire countries.\n"Hidalgo," which is set in the late 19th century, is a fictionalized version of actual events in the life of Frank T. Hopkins (Mortensen). According to the film, Hopkins and his mustang Hidalgo won over 400 cross country races throughout their long careers. \nHopkins opens the film with a victory in a race across America, but soon after he bares witness to the horrific murder of hundreds of Indians at Wounded Knee. Being half-Indian, he takes the massacre very hard and eventually gives up the cowboy life to work in Buffalo Bill's rodeo show. He spends most of this time drunk until he is finally given the opportunity of a lifetime: enter a 3,000 mile race across the Arabian desert, the most arduous of all endurance races. \nBeing the only Westerner in a race with a hundred Arabians, Hopkins is faced with many obstacles: his presence in the race is scorned, his horse's breeding is questioned and some of his opponents attempt to kill him, not to mention a sandstorm and patches of quicksand threaten his and Hidalgo's lives. \nThen the movie changes. It's as if the filmmakers think the race is getting old, so they add another conflict. A princess is kidnapped, and in order to defend his honor Hopkins must save her. Though it sidesteps the race completely, the added conflict is not necessarily a bad thing because for a movie about a race there is a great deal of down time. \nThe film is fun to watch at times. The desert scenery is stunning, the costumes are extravagant and the idea of such a long race is quite fascinating. However, the film relies too heavily on special effects and gun fights and several of the characters are exaggerated for comic relief (like a high ranking Arabian who loves "Buffalo Bill" comics and Hopkins' rambling Arabian sidekick). \n"Hidalgo" is ultimately a story about a cowboy and his horse. If the film stuck to this relationship along with the race and did not get bogged down in typical clichés, it may have been a significantly more captivating flick. But I will give director Joe Johnston credit because he did quite well with the script he was given.