It's a horse movie. Let's just get that out of the way right now so we know what we're dealing with. A steed will have to be tamed or healed, a child will fall in love with said animal, and there will probably be a big race at the end. Oh, and in case you didn't know it was based on a true story, they've plastered that fact into the title.
Now if we can set all that stuff aside for a moment, there's something more to look at. Different films can be admired for different reasons. Audiences can thrill at the way a director builds suspense or laugh at the way an actor delivers a line of dialogue. Dreamer deserves some kind of attention for just how uncommonly charming it is.
It starts with the casting. Kurt Russell stars as equestrian trainer Ben Crane, who loses his job nominally because he refuses to put down an injured horse, but really because he's such a reputable guy and his boss (David Morse) is such a sourpuss. No one oozes integrity like Kurt Russell. He's like a modern John Wayne. He stands up, looks you in the eye and if he tells you he has a bridge to sell, you believe him.
Appropriately playing his estranged father is Kris Kristofferson, who both looks and acts like the man responsible for Russell turning out the way he did. His kind-on-the-inside, tough-as-nails-on-the-outside demeanor has been perpetuated on screen a lot lately—probably because he's so good at it.
At the center of attention is Ben's daughter, Cale. She's played by Dakota Fanning, who looks like a kid but has the acting chops of an adult. At one point she even demands of her well-meaning father, "Don't treat me like a little child!"
Despite the well-treaded story line, the entire cast delivers their performances with the utmost conviction; not because their plot is any great shakes but because they believe in these characters. It doesn't hurt that the whole thing is photographed by Fred Murphy, who makes the Kentucky locations look as if they're the prettiest places on Earth.
Yes, heartstrings will be yanked and people will cheer, and there will no doubt be people who don't fall for it. They're called grouches.