Review of War Horse (2011) by Tedpancakes — 28 Dec 2011

Spielberg movies have to hook you from the start or you're going to feel like a sourpuss at the positivity party. I felt like the latter during this movie. At times, the sentimentality could be cringe-inducing and the dramatic developments were so infused with nostalgia that I started to get uncomfortable.

All movies are manipulative in some way, but this one is so obviously intent on making you emotional that it's creepy. Plus, I'd just seen the documentary Buck, and it was hard not to think of the horses being directed to hit their marks while we're expected to view them as free-thinking characters.