HOT TO TROT
ORPHANED teenager Jo Green (Mackenzie Foy) is sent to live with her estranged uncle, John Manly (Game of Thrones’ Iain Glen), a horse whisperer who rehabilitates wild mustangs at Birtwick Stables in New York.
Initially, the relationship is strained and John struggles to connect with his niece on the same deep level as his beloved animals.
“I’m better with horses than I am with people,” he confides to co-worker Henry Gordon (Matt Rippy).
Jo is drawn to one seemingly untameable, black stallion, which she christens Beauty (voiced by Kate Winslet).
A touching friendship blossoms “like flowers do in spring” but fate contrives to drive a wedge between Jo and Beauty.
The horse is leased to well-to-do society wife Mrs Winthorp (Claire Forlani), who insists that Jo keeps an
“appropriate distance” from the stallion and her strapping son George (Calam Lynch).
Adapted by writer-director Ashley Avis from Anna Sewell’s cherished 19th-century novel, Black Beauty is a well-groomed drama, which transplants the heart-tugging action from Victorian England to present-day America.
The opening hour is a feast for the eyes thanks to David Procter’s sunmellowed cinematography and myriad slow-motion gallops through golden fields or crashing waves on a deserted beach, which evoke the equine imagery of long-running TV adverts for a British bank.
Casting Winslet with an American accent as the title character’s inner voice overcomes initial misgivings.
The Oscar winner’s honeyed tones make light work of the script’s prosaic musings and guide us at a gentle trot through Beauty’s “first experience with the creatures they call… humans”.
Streaming from November 27 exclusively on Disney+.