Flicka: Growing Up In Wyoming with Horses and Epiphanies

In Flicka, a coming of age film, more than just the young heroine are primed to come of age and realize truths about life, love and living. Her father and older brother are fair candidates for coming of age epiphanies, themselves. The mother is pretty much there already.

While these humans in Flicka are fumbling about and misstepping in their dance with wisdom, the heroine has an encounter with a free-roaming American Mustang mare (and another creature, incidentally). In this encounter, the Mustang shows her superiority and wins over the heroine's affections and trust. This is problematic because the credo, as her father tells us, of the Western quarter horse ranch is that Mustangs are parasites which strip grazing lands and contaminate purebred herds.

Through this storyline, based as it is on the popular children's story My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara, director Michael Mayer, directing his second-ever film, makes very important and significant social comments about family reconciliation and the current situation of American Mustangs, which, in 1971, were protected by Congress and became eligible for adoption by private individuals: Though by 1970 the American Mustang, the remnants of raided 17th century Spanish Conquistador mounts, was becoming extinct, there are now 41,000 running free and awaiting adoption into nice barns.

The young star, Alison Lohman, is one of the very good things about Flicka. She is not only winsomely beautiful, with Dianna Durbin eyes, she has sharp intelligence which shows on screen. Her portrayal of her character, in this socially relevant story, is a convincing mix of reticence, temper, tantrum, sheer guts and determination, and love. Her most important co-star, the horse (with my apologies to Ryan Kwanten, playing her brother in his first prominent movie role), is almost a mirror-image of herself, as far as these traits go, and a good runner. The beautiful location sports an extra touch of beauty with Katy and Flicka running across its green expanses.