By Forris Day Jr.
To tell the truth, horses scare me. I’ve stood next to many, and I always feel like they’re going to attack me for some reason. Maybe it’s because animals and I have always had a tenuous relationship. I’ve been bitten several times in my life by “gentle” dogs that never bite. Animals just sense my nervousness. Even as a kid, dogs would chase me on my bike. Of course I was delivering meat for a local butcher shop. Just kidding, but I may have well have been, by the way these kindly canines pursued me. Horses are far more intimidating to me. Most are huge and muscular and could stomp a human to death at will, at least in my overactive imagination, so therefore I don’t usually care for movies about animals.
“The Electric Horseman” is a classic film from 1979, that I’ve been meaning to watch for many years, and finally did the other night. I’m glad I chose to watched it. It was so well written and acted that it surprised me. I always thought it was just a corny movie about a horse, but it was far from it.
It’s the story of Sonny Steele, a five time rodeo champion, played wonderfully by Robert Redford. After many years on the circuit, and lots of broken bones, Sonny is living the so-called good life, as a breakfast cereal spokesman. He makes a ton of cash, drinks a lot of booze, and does pretty much what he wants, but he’s not happy. The final straw is when he is scheduled to make a promotional appearance in a casino in Las Vegas riding atop a former star thoroughbred race horse called “Rising Star”. The horse is a legend. Sonny is standing next to the horse and he comes to realize the horse is stoned out of it’s mind on drugs designed to control it. It’s leg is also injured. The horse, like Sonny, is a star that has crashed to the lowest depths of commercialism. They are both being used by the breakfast company Ampco for profit, with little care about the horses welfare, or Sonny’s for that matter. Sonny is appalled at the terrible treatment this beautiful horse is receiving. So he simply hops on top of the horse and rides it across the stage and out of the casino.
Sonny’s goal is a mystery to everyone as he disappears into the Nevada dessert with the 12 million dollar horse. Where is he going? Why did he steal it? What will happen to the horse? These questions are burning in the mind of the tenacious and sexy news reporter Hallie Martin (Jane Fonda). She is clever enough to track him down in the dessert for a story for her TV station. He is angered by the fact that she found him, and now he realizes he must change tactics. Hallie starts out wanting a news story, but then soon realizes that helping save this majestic horse is far more important than any exclusive she could ever get.
The cast is rounded out by legendary musician Willie Nelson, whose music appears throughout the film. Willie does a great job playing Sonny’s manager and friend. “The Electric Horseman” is a story you’ll want to see over and over. The cinematography is second to none. The closing credits shot taken from a helicopter was a real treat to watch too. This movie was made back when movies were about story and substance, and not special effects. I can not recommend it enough.
Rating: 9/10 “Ride of into the sunset with this great flick”
“The Electric Horseman” on IMDb
