Monarch Home Video // 2003 // 95 Minutes // Rated PG
Reviewed by Judge Jonathan Nelson (Retired) // September 30th, 2003
Can saving an injured horse turn a man's life around?
Sometimes you just can't win. The odds are against you, nobody is rooting for you, and you are such a long shot that no one is seriously expecting you to win. And when you happen to also be a horse, the penalty for losing is a one-way trip to the glue factory. Big Spender was a loser first, a racehorse second, and his owner was tired of losing. Fortunately for Big Spender, he found his way to a horse retirement stable for horses who have lost their shine, but after being left for dead for so long, Big Spender had all but lost the will to even stand up.
Eddie Burton (Casper Van Dien, Starship Troopers) was a failure as a citizen. In jail so often, his own eight-year-old son is ashamed of him. Serving time for untold crimes, Eddie looks for trouble just to fill the gaps while he's not peeling potatoes. When a fellow inmate talks about his work detail out on a horse farm, Eddie thinks he's found his ticket to easy street. Playing with horses he figures should be a whole lot better than staying behind bars all day long, even if he doesn't know squat about equestrians.
The work is hard and grueling, and the owner of the stables, Jake (Graham Greene, Green Mile), knows horse manure when he sees it, and sees right through Eddie. But when Big Spender arrives, and Jake makes Eddie take care of him, Eddie finds something within himself that he didn't realize he had: a reason to change. While Eddie nurses Big Spender back to life, Big Spender slowly rehabilitates Eddie, in a way the prison system usually doesn't see happening.
Based on a true story, Big Spender is a straightforward plot, focusing almost entirely on the man/horse relationship. Casper Van Dien is on the screen 95% of the time, so consequentially the weight of the film rests squarely on his shoulders. His haircut looks like he was trapped in the 1970s for a while, and his delivery of lines have the same tone and intensity regardless if he is picking a fight with an inmate or trying to celebrate his son's birthday. It is an oddly suited role, but for a movie that feels straight out of Animal Planet, his performance is enough to keep the audience watching, but that's about it.
Working in horse stables is hard work, and one thing the movie does right is not show an easy transition from novice horse handler to expect horse whisperer in a matter of days. The hard work and long hours it takes for both the handlers and horses comes across clearly, and is the best selling point of the film. Otherwise, the paint-by-numbers script is about as hard to follow as a turtle trying to cross an empty street. The film doesn't have the grandness of scale of Seabiscuit, but it tells much of the same story: that a man can turn the life of a horse around while the horse does the same for him.
The DVD is a bare release, containing only the movie and no extra features, subtitles or audio preferences. The audio is what you'd expect for a made for TV movie with nothing demanding placed upon the speakers. The video is full frame with slightly desaturated colors, especially in the reds, making a soft picture. There is noticeable edge enhancement and a few specks of dirt appear now and then.
If you are a horse lover you may be inclined to at least rent this disc, but the far too predictable plot will most likely turn off most potential viewers. Unless you are a big spender, skip this Big Spender and save your money for Seabiscuit instead.
Review content copyright © 2003 Jonathan Nelson; Site layout and review format copyright © 1998 - 2012 HipClick Designs LLC
Scales of Justice
Judgment: 47
Perp Profile
Studio: Monarch Home Video
Video Formats:
* Full Frame
Audio Formats:
* Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround (English)
Subtitles:
* None
Running Time: 95 Minutes
Release Year: 2003
MPAA Rating: Rated PG
Distinguishing Marks
* None
Accomplices
* IMDb
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0356414/combined