War Horse (2011)

This is ultimately a feel good movie against the back drop of one of the most inhuman and senseless wars engaged in by modern man. It begins on a small family farm in the English county of Devon. We meet young Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine), his usually drunken but not unkind father, Ted (Peter Mullan), and his hard-working, loving mother, Rose (Emily Wat­son). Ted is a veteran of the Boer Wars, and he returned home with a pronounced limp, a bad drinking problem, and a strong desire not to talk about it. Lyons (David Thewlis), the protypically condescending and unlikable landowner, presses them for past-due rent and they make a series of poor decisions related to a horse they name Joey. Since this is a feel good movie in the old time Hollywood style, Joey turns out to be a horse worth taking a risk for. When WWI breaks out, Joey is sent off into battle and straight away his rider is killed and he falls into German hands, where he remains for the bulk of the war. Despite his thoroughbred appearance, he is a horse who can work, and that saves him, because as we know when Germany is at war, if you cannot work, you are terminated. The rest of the movie is about how Albert and Joey are reunited, and come home from war together. Happy ending.