Hidalgo

Actor Viggo Mortensen made his first starring appearance in a film after his breakthrough performance in the Lord of the Rings trilogy with this period adventure. Frank T. Hopkins (Mortensen) is a U.S. Cavalry officer who earned a reputation as one of the fastest and most daring riders in the West; however, after taking part in the bloody massacre at Wounded Knee, Hopkins becomes disenchanted with the Cavalry, and once his hitch is up, he takes a job as a rider with a seedy touring Wild West show. During an engagement in New York, Hopkins meets Aziz (Adam Alexi-Malle), an associate of wealthy Bedouin Sheikh Riyadh (Omar Sharif), who knows of Hopkins' talents and wants him to take part in "The Ocean of Fire," an annual 3,000-mile desert horse race running from Arabia to Iraq. Hopkins accepts the invitation and sails to the Middle East with his trusty mustang Hidalgo without knowing just what he's getting himself into. Once he arrives, Hopkins learns that the punishing race course claims the lives of nearly half its contestants, and that most of his competitors ride pure-bred Arabian stallions and do not regard Hidalgo and his master as worthy adversaries. Temporarily exiled to a land where freedom eludes the multitudes and class and wealth define one's fate, Hopkins finds himself riding for both honor and principle, with the support of Riyadh and his beautiful, headstrong daughter, Jazira (Zuleikha Robinson), though the Sheikh's nephew Katib (Silas Carson) is equally determined to see Hopkins go down in defeat. Hidalgo was directed by Joe Johnston, who previously worked with animals on the run in Jumanji and Jurassic Park III. — Mark Deming

Its producers would love nothing more than for their film to be compared to Lawrence of Arabia (1962), but while it's got plenty of sand and Omar Sharif in a shora, this action-adventure is no Lawrence. It has neither the trademark scope nor bracingly flinty characterizations of David Lean, nor does it even have the cinematography of another similar film, The Black Stallion (1979). Despite this, Hidalgo (2004) is a surprisingly fun, brisk adventure. Sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut, and sometimes even the Hollywood system gets one right. In this case, the lucky parties are the homogenized corporate culture of Disney, mixed with the former effects-guy milieu of Joe Johnston, blended with the faux-stirring histrionics of screenwriter John Fusco. (For an Italian guy from Connecticut, Fusco must be really into horses — his last film was 2002's wretchedly titled Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron). Somehow, it all works out, probably in no small part to rapid-fire editing and a commendably go-for-broke performance from Viggo Mortensen, who must be a little saddle sore after this and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but persuasively plays a fairly dumb cowboy who nevertheless trumps a variety of goofy, central-casting baddies by employing his all-American horse sense. It's made to be rented, seen on cable, or caught on an in-flight feature, but Hidalgo fulfills its humble ambitions, and that's more than you can say for a lot of other movies that spill from the maw of the Hollywood machine. — Karl Williams