Flicka - DVD

Young Katie (Lohman) claims a wild horse as her own - an effort to prove to her father (McGraw) that she is capable of one day taking over the family ranch. Can a wild horse with a bad attitude and a not-quite-wild but pretty darn sullen teenage girl with a bad attitude be the best things that ever happened to each other? Though we guess the answer pretty early on in Flicka, it doesn't diminish the feel-good family film one bit. The film is a remake of the 1947 My Friend Flicka itself based on the bestselling (and still riveting) novel by Mary O'Hara, and starring a young Roddy McDowall as the aimless teen hero. This 2006 update changes the hero to a heroine, Katy (Alison Lohman), though the dynamic is similar, and in some ways makes the appeal of the film broader. After all, young girls love their horses, and Katy's moxie and determination, as she opens her heart to the wild filly, a touchingly and humanly conveyed. As Katy struggles with her relationship with her gruff dad.