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Movie Overview
Cast
• Viggo Mortensen
• Omar Sharif
• Zuleikha Robinson
Director
• Joe Johnston
MPAA Rating
PG-13 - for adventure violence and some mild innuendo
Hidalgo (2004)

REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS OTHER
OFCS Rating: 38% Rotten
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2/5
"Leave it to Hollywood to turn an amazing true story about courage and self-redemption into a shameless action extravaganza. "  Filmcritic.com  Blake French

5/5
"This is grand cowboy fun, a wild adventure with a glorious sense of excitement and wonder."  eFilmCritic.com  David Cornelius

C+
"“Hidalgo” is a barely entertaining movie; what it does best is prove that Viggo Mortensen has legs"  EDGE Boston  David Foucher

2/4
"...essentially Seabiscuit minus the cheering crowds"  Cinemaphile.org  David Keyes

2/4
"Bogs itself down with overplotting and a languid pace."  TheMovieBoy.com  Dustin Putman

B-
"You know exactly where the story's going, and you know exactly what Frank's going to do in any given situation, though I admit he generally does it with panache."  EricDSnider.com  Eric D. Snider

2/4
"If I bought tickets at Arlington Park and made a wager, the last thing I want to see is a jockey leave his mount to go rescue someone’s daughter"  eFilmCritic.com  Erik Childress

C
"If there's one thing I learned from Hidalgo, it's that Americans are better than Arabs."  Film Blather  Eugene Novikov

B-
"While the picture is well-meaning and handsomely mounted, many will find it too formulaic, earnest and leisurely to be much more than a barely passable diversion."  One Guy's Opinion  Frank Swietek

3/5
"Hidalgo is an old-fashioned adventure yarn that works well and will appeal to equine lovers. "  Spirituality and Practice  Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

2.5/4
"A sporadically entertaining adventure movie that is hampered by poor pacing, a badly focused screenplay, and cheesy special effects."  ReelViews  James Berardinelli

2.5/4
"at its most effective when it distills everything down to the love story between a man and his horse"  Q Network Film Desk  James Kendrick

2/4
"Nothing kills my Viggo jones like a bad western set in the Arabian Desert."  Palo Alto Weekly  Jeanne Aufmuth

6/10
"A fun/schmaltzy action adventure Disney flick."  JoBlo's Movie Emporium  JoBlo

5/10
"...why weren't the Disney folks content simply to tell a good story? Could it have been because they knew they didn't have a very good story?"  DVDTown.com  John J. Puccio

"You would think that playing loose with the facts would make the filmmaker's job easier, but they use the freedom to stuff the script with unnecessary pit stops."  Light Views  John Larsen

6/10
"Mortensen attempts to channel the Ghost of Clint Eastwood Westerns Past."  Planet Sick-Boy  Jon Popick

C
"Capitulates to weak dialogue, poor pacing, and a half-hearted performance from mumbler Viggo Mortensen, leaving it to be remembered more for a few scenes than as a total film"  Countingdown.com  Larry Carroll

B-
""Lawrence of Arabia" locations, "The Mummy's" sandstorm, a rescue a la "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and a scrappy horse besting bigger thoroughbreds like "Seabiscuit.""  Reeling Reviews  Laura Clifford

2.5/5
"Mortensen's charisma makes Hopkins' 'aw-shucks, ma'am' mannerisms surprisingly palatable, but he's still in constant danger of losing the spotlight to the personable Hidalgo."  TV Guide's Movie Guide  Maitland McDonagh

5/10
"It could have been a good adventure story. Disney should have stuck to Hopkins's story whether it was true or not."  rec.arts.movies.reviews  Mark R. Leeper

"[A]s grand as old Hollywood and as fun and as breathtaking and as touching as anything you’ll see at the movies today..."  Flick Filosopher  MaryAnn Johanson

2.5/4
"I know Seabiscuit. Seabiscuit was a friend of mine. Hidalgo is no Seabiscuit."  Aisle Seat  Mike McGranaghan

B
"There is a lot for the eyes, but not enough for the heart."  Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies  Nell Minow

2/4
"It’s The Last Samurai except that proud Arabs substitute for the dignified Japanese, and our rugged hero is given a stout, mixed-blood equine sidekick."  Slant Magazine  Nick Schager

"I don’t object to 'Hidalgo' because it may fudge facts...I object to it because they are used in the service of a story that is, frankly, quite boring."  Critic Doctor  Peter Sobczynski

1.5/5
"A big old chunk of horse poop."  Film Threat  Phil Hall

3/5
"A big, beautiful film that's thoroughly enjoyable even if it never tries to be meaningful."  Shadows on the Wall  Rich Cline

C
"It's hard these days to associate Viggo Mortensen with words like 'adequate,' 'competent,' or 'workmanlike.'"  Flipside Movie Emporium  Rob Vaux

B
"An enjoyable ride, as long as you don't take it seriously."  Laramie Movie Scope  Robert Roten

B-
"If you are in the mood for an old-fashioned adventure in exotic locales with magnificent equines and lots of familiar action, then this may be the movie for you."  Reeling Reviews  Robin Clifford

3/5
"Dances with Seabiscuit of Arabia...of the Rings"  eFilmCritic.com  Scott Weinberg

C
"Why am I so surprised that a movie about a grueling endurance race takes so long to reach its own finish line?"  Eclipse Magazine  Sean O'Connell

C+
"Fitfully entertaining hokum as long as it isn't taken too seriously… Remarkably, Disney doesn't whitewash the more politically incorrect elements of Hopkins' tale."  Decent Films Guide  Steven D. Greydanus

2.5/4
"Although Hidalgo is frequently exciting and has been handsomely produced on a grand scale, you can't help but wonder what either Spielberg or Cameron could have done with this material."  Reel.com  Timothy Knight

1.5/4
"A facile tall tale of race and a race made by Disney in decline."  Film Freak Central  Walter Chaw

1.5/4
"The film's most harrowing scenes are predictable and utterly unoriginal."  Oscar Guy  Wesley Lovell

C
Read review  FilmJerk.com  Brian Orndorf

8/10
Read review  www.susangranger.com  Susan Granger

Read review  PopMatters  Cynthia Fuchs
OFCS Rating: 38% Rotten
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