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Title: Hidalgo

Original theatrical release: 2004

Details:

Viggo Mortensen

Zuleikha Robinson

Omar Sharif

Louise Lombard

Director: Joe Johnston

Score: +

The Review: It's a horse race: someone wins, many lose, but the trip is engaging and worth the time. The same could be said of Seabiscuit, but they are quite different movies. Hidalgo may spend significant time setting up the characters and situation, but it is dominantly a one-race movie, across the sands of Arabia.

Viggo Mortensen (Hopkins) and Omar Sharif (Riyadh) offer the most interesting performances, with Sharif's turn as sheik the quiet highlight. A competitor and potential lust interest, Lombard (Lady Anne Davenport) is transparent, wooden and caricatured, although not unattractive. Robinson is the sheik's headstrong daughter Jazira, who is much more effective than Lombard in getting Mortensen into trouble.

The DVD comes with a few extras, including a brief documentary on the background of long-distance races; the characters are based on a real Frank T. Hopkins and a real Hidalgo (a wild mustang).

(21-Sep-04)

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