War Horse

Have you ever gone to see a movie, and afterwards, all you wanted to do was sit through the credits and have a good cry?

Me neither.

Until today.

Honestly, I kind of have a movie hangover.  You know the feeling when a movie was so real that you're sort of shocked back into reality as soon as it's over? Yep.

So.

I went to go see War Horse this afternoon with my dad and my sister.

Aaand I went in with the usual thoughts before a movie that is supposedly, "sooooo good. "  How good could it be? It's a movie about a horse...  Is it really two and a half hours long?... Good thing I bought a big soda...


Then it started.  And what first caught me was the music.  I had known that John Williams wrote the score (yay. more star wars.)  But as it pans over a landscape of rural England with a pure, soaring theme that was anything but what I expected, I was hooked.

The characters were endeared to me from the beginning, and I felt every emotion that they did, with each and every character that was added, no matter for how long or short a time they were onscreen.

What I thought was absolutely fascinating was how the Germans were portrayed.  They were obviously not painted as the heroes, but many of them were shown in a quite personal and touching way for what they really were: brothers, friends, men fighting for their country.

The cinematography was superb (thanks, Spielberg) and the script was so powerful.

I won't say too much more for fear of spoiling anything.  Part of what really made the movie was the plot. Absolutely nothing was expected, especially the ending.

Please please pleeease go see it.

And, maybe bring some tissues with you.