| In this movie, 12 year old Christopher works hard on the struggling family farm, but can't seem to do enough to satisfy his demanding father. Dad comes to get drunk (again) with a couple of his drinking buddies in town and picks a fight with an upright, decent feller named Frank Chase, who accidentally kills Chris' father in self defense. This leaves Mom, Christopher and his little sister in worse shape financially than they had been in already. The decent feller, Mr. Chase, offers the struggling family any assistance he could provide them, seeing that he was partly responsible for taking away their breadwinner. But he is taken aback sometime afterward when Christopher, his sister and their Mom, just about out of resources, show up at Mr. Chase's door, ready to take him up on his offer of assistance. Mom proposes that she and her kids move into his small house with him, in a marriage of convenience which would not only give her kids a decent male role model and a roof over their heads, but would allow Mr. Chase 3 hot meals a day in a tidy environment, that as a single guy, he has been obviously lacking. In time, we see how "The Wild Pony" is woven into the story, and how young Chris' dream of one day owning that pony corresponds to the boyhood dream once held by Mr. Chase, and how those dreams begin to materialize along with the hopes of Chris' mother to remain out west in a family that can support itself. Now, if the above plot and what follows had been played out in this movie by mediocre actors, it could have been just another family film. But the actor who portrays young Christopher, 12 year old Canadian-born Josh Byrne, exhibits an acting ability in this emotional role which is superb and altogether believable. The same holds true for everyone in this small, but talented cast who were led by Kevin Sullivan, the brilliant director, among many other works, of the 1985 tv production of "Anne Of Green Gables". Add to all of the above how wonderfully this movie was filmed and as you watch, you will feel like you are right there! Sullivan co-wrote "The Wild Pony" with Eda Lishman. It is quite a well written, heart warming story of healing and new beginnings which I feel is one of the best productions in this genre that one can buy on video. I highly recommend this film to all ages. (Kudos to actor Josh Byrne who, only two years after this film's release, at age 15, was left partially paralized after an auto accident caused him a serious brain injury. He now heads "The Josh Byrne Society" in Calgury, Alberta, Canada which helps to raise money and awareness for a number of brain-injury related groups.) |
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