I guess this movie might be okay for children or people who don't know much about horses...but I have never seen a more poorly researched movie! As an equestrian I laughed through the entire movie at the ridiculousness of it all. THEY HAD THE HORSE BACKWARDS IN THE TRAILER!!! Other than the major oversights with regard to horses and owning horses, the movie was cheesy and terribly predictable. I was incredibly surprised to see that the movie was not very old - it seems like something that would have been released in the late 80s or early 90s. It was clearly outdated. If you want to see a good horse movie, rent Seabiscuit, or if you're looking for something a little more kid friendly, Dreamer or National Velvet.

O.K. you can see the plot twists coming a mile way but the film ends up being a pleasant experience and a notch better than the usual 'girl and her horse movie' mainly because of the superior production. There is some beautiful Nova Scotia scenery and many shots of galloping horses to delight the horse lovers.The acting is generally good although Gabriel Byrne's mind seems elsewhere and he tends to mumble his lines and that, with his Irish accent makes him difficult to understand sometimes. The two young girls playing his daughters however bear the brunt of the film and they are both excellent and pretty. There is sentiment in the movie but it never gets maudlin. The scene where the girls reminisce about their dead mother is genuinely moving.The lengthy final endurance horse race is well done and the suspense is maintained until the end as the bad guys (more jerks than anything else)try their skullduggery to stop Virginia from race. The kids will love it when one of them gets his comeuppance in that old cliche - the horse trough.There in nothing scary for the kids and when the film is over you are left with a nice warm feeling, which is the way this type of film should leave you.

I loved this film...I cannot wait for it to come to theaters in the United States. This is one of those movies that sneaks up on you. At first, you think it is going to be a simple film about a girl and her horse, but it is loaded with action, death-defying action, and really pays off in the end. I saw it in Toronto at the festival....WOW!...the reaction was a standing ovation!!

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** I saw Virginia's Run at the Seattle Film Festival and found myself totally absorbed. The movies it brings to mind are National Velvet and more recently Fly Away Home. The cinematography is beautiful a la The Black Stallion but it is the story that swept me away. A family is recovering from the loss of their mother in a horse accident and the 12 year old daughter is forbidden to ride again by the father, Gabriel Byrne. She helps deliver a foal in the middle of the night (how they did this is beyond me) and she adopts the horse without telling her dad. When the horse is grown she rides him at night, Eventually he finds out, trauma ensues but ut us resolved and in the end she enters a 50 mile endurance race where her chief rival is her sister's boyfriend. The film never has a false moment and the acting is strong across the board. Gabriel Byrne is a wonderful presnece and really anchors the film. JoAnne Whalley plays an outsider who prods him along accepting Virginia's desire to ride and she is very good. I loved the relationship between Virginia and her sister, Caroline who is a few years older and very different in terms of her interests. She is going through the mid-teen sexuality trip which Virginia can't relate to. There is a scene where Caroline reads (actually she has it memorized) her mother's diary that had the entire audience in tears. Actually I counted four times I was drawn to tears. Caroline's boyfriend is cute as hell but a real jerk. And a very effective jerk. You can't wait to see him get squashed. For my kids there was great action. The horse photography is fabulous and the scenery breathtaking. The girl who played Virginia is so spunky and real that she could carry the movie by herself. She doesn't ever overact and is right on the money in every scene. If you want to see a film for the family that isn't in the 'dumb comedy' category or isn't animated film this is the real thing. After the theaters it's going to sell tons of videos.