Ben Crane (Kurt Russell) was once a great horseman, whose gifts as a trainer were now being wasted on making other men's fortunes. Sonya was a great horse whose promising future on the racetrack was suddenly cut short by a career-ending broken leg. Considered as good as dead to her owner, who also happens to be Ben's boss, Sonya is given to Ben as severance pay, along with his walking papers. Now, it will take the unwavering faith and determination of Ben's young daughter, Cale (Dakota Fanning), to bring these two damaged souls together in a quest for a seemingly impossible goal: to win the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Honestly sometimes you can’t blame a film for not liking as it doesn’t hide the fact of what it is and you should be knowing what you are about to get into. It’s not that I hated Dreamer, it’s that I have seen Dreamer many many many times just with a different name, and actors. It’s that sugary sweet underdog overcoming all odds to win it despite everything kind of movie. Heck the movie doesn’t even attempt to disguise itself as it is clear just from the title Inspired by a True Story that they want you to know that it is a true story and to become that much more sentimental for the movie. Too call the movie formulaic would be the understatement of the year and the movie doesn’t care that’s it’s formulaic doesn’t care if you know either. There are many cute moments in the movie and it is a heart warming tale of the underdog beating the goliaths of the world but it is also kind of boring. It’s boring because you know what’s going to happen and the movie doesn’t care if you know. A good family movie that is warm and fuzzy and good for a matinee but if you miss it at the theatres no worries you have already seen it a dozen times before.

I like Dakota Fanning and she has proven that she is an incredible actress but this movie is kind of below her. She should be trying to hone her skills as she gets older rather than taking on parts that she could sleep walk through and nearly does for that matter. She is good in the role because she is a cute kid and does have talent as an actress but I just don’t have a hard time imaging a dozen other young kids that could have done just as well as she did. On the other hand I think Kurt Russell is just hanging onto Hollywood fame as long as he can by taking no roles that are risky or even a stretch for him. It’s like he is so afraid of being on the outs of fame that he has lost any desire to do anything but vanilla movies, ala his last movie Miracle. They are cute but they don’t require a lot of talent either and they keep in making movies. I may sound a little harsh in reference to the movie as it wasn’t a terrible movie, it was just your run of the mill formulaic Disney film that has no desire for originality. I enjoyed it for the most part but would I sit through it again, most likely nor.
3 stars out of 5