Flicka (DVD, 2009, Dual Side; Movie Cash)

Flicka takes considerable pains to resurrect the girl-and-her-horse genre, tinkering with Mary O'Hara's 1941 children's novel, "My Friend Flicka," so that the book's main character, nine-year-old Ken McLaughlin (played by Roddy McDowell in the 1943 movie version) is magically transformed into a 16-year-old girl named Katy. But talk about flogging a dead horse. National Velvet, it ain't.

No one would suggest that a motion picture squarely aimed at adolescent girls needs to be particularly smart and insightful. But neither does it have to be so relentlessly lame. Flicka is hobbled by cliché, on-the-nose dialogue and an embarrassing absence of subtlety. Screenwriters Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner leave nothing to chance. Only the most catatonic viewer will miss that the untamable spirit of Flicka mirrors the untamable spirit of Katy.

Except that the horse is more sympathetic. Lohman, a very good actress, does the best she can as our willful heroine, but it's a short hop from obstinate Katy to shrill, obnoxious Katy. It's difficult to muster up much rooting interest for the girl, who ignores her father's sensible directives (like staying off a wild horse), throws tantrums and lashes out at her parents' friends. Hmm. So that's why she'd been sent off to a boarding school.

Don't fault the actors for this by-the-numbers drama. The 27-year-old Lohman is a bit mature to play the 16-year-old Katy, but she brings a much-needed presence to the role. Country music superstar McGraw, who was so impressive in 2004's Friday Night Lights, makes the most of an underwritten part, and Maria Bello is typically excellent. But then there is Ryan Kwanten as Katy's older brother, Howard, whose chief responsibility is to walk around shirtless.

The film is not totally without charm. Director Michael Mayer does make the most of the attractive scenery, sprucing things up with shots of majestic horses barreling across equally majestic countrysides. It's beautiful imagery, all right ... for selling Ford pickups.

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