Hidalgo (2004)

Coming off the success of his heart-throb image in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Viggo Mortensen was given the lead in this action yarn which did respectable, if not amazing, box office in the States.  He acquits himself reasonably well too playing the real-life half-Lakota cowboy Frank T. Hopkins; the story which is based on his memoirs probably takes great liberty with the facts of his life, but the tale of a 1000-mile cross-country race over the Arabian sands is the stuff of "boys-own" fantasy.  I couldn't quite work out the logistics of the procedings but that seemed less important than the derring-do.  In particular the relationship Hopkins had with his Spanish mustang was very moving and I am ashamed to say that I thought the horse was the better actor!  I must also comment on the photography; I am not familiar with the cinematographer here, but I thought the landscape was brilliantly presented.  Finally it was great seeing Omar Sharif again (known affectionately in this household as Cairo Fred) playing the Sheikh who sponsored the race.  A little too long but generally worth the time.