After seeing his career
skyrocket with his turn as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings,
Viggo Mortensen gets the chance to headline his own
film in Hidalgo. Based loosely on a true story, Hidalgo follows the
exploits of Frank T. Hopkins (Mortensen), a cowboy and US cavalry
dispatcher who had a reputation as the greatest long-distance horse
rider in the West. After witnessing the atrocities committed by the
cavalry at Wounded Knee Creek in 1890, Hopkins drowns his guilt in
booze until he and his horse, Hidalgo, are invited by a Sheik (Omar
Sharif) to test their skill in the Middle East by competing
in the Ocean of Fire, a 3,000 mile survival race across the Arabian
desert. Once the race starts, it will take all of their cunning to
survive both the harsh elements and their competitors, who will stop
at nothing to win. Hidalgo
manages to combine its many elements pretty well – action-adventure,
self-realization, encountering the unknown and surviving, and even
communication between man and horse. Mortensen plays the part of
the internally conflicted, understated hero quite well, although
I would have liked more depth to both his character and many of
the others in the film. In my opinion, the most commendable part
of the film was its representation of the culture clash between
American and Arab and that despite the fact that the two never completely
understand one another, they still manage to find a common ground.
Overall, though at times the film feels a bit bloated, in the end
it won me over and I found myself cheering for both Hopkins and
Hidalgo.
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