Young Albert (Jeremy Irvine) tends to his horse Joey in War Horse.

I’ll admit this right off the bat: I didn’t really want to see this film but unfortunately I was too late for a showing of The Descendants and sadly, The Artist wasn’t playing anywhere near me. So reluctantly, I agreed to see this flick. All in all, I’m glad I went. Despite my fears that I would be seeing a modern reprise of the play Equus (War Horse was previously adapted from a play; although unlike Equus, its original source material is a children’s novel) , I was thoroughly relieved that didn’t come to pass. Directed by cinema’s most consistently popular and well respected director, Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis, War Horse is entertaining schmaltz about the relationship between a boy and his horse. And except for one moment when I stole a fleeting glance at my Blackberry (on vibrate) to see the time (a metric for my enjoyment of a film or a play–how many times I check the time), I was…riveted.

Yes, the film is pure treacle from start to finish. From the luridly lush, Disneyfied cinematography panning the verdant fields of Scotland courtesy of the great Janusz Kaminski (Schindler’s List)  to John Williams’ swelling score that telegraphs every single poignant second in the film (lest we are so obtuse that we don’t get that what we’re about to see is TOUCHING in neon hues), War Horse is admittedly overbaked, syrupy mush. But it will also leave a lump in your throat that may take awhile to abate after you leave the theater.

The story begins when feckless, drunken farmer, Ted Narracut (Peter Mullan) buys a stunning thoroughbred that he can’t afford at an auction. It’s a reckless, irresponsible act because Ted owes money in back rent to an unsympathetic landlord (David Thewlis). Ted’s teenaged son, Albert, taking an immediate shine to the equine creature he calls Joey, tells his father he will be able to train the horse to plow the land (and thus save the family from ruin). Only things don’t work out that way. Without informing his son beforehand, the debt-ridden Ted sells Joey to a cavalry officer (Tom Hiddleston) en route to fight the Germans during World War II. Confronted with the heartbroken Albert, the officer reassures the boy he will take good care of the horse and even return the animal to him after the war.

Soon, the film adopts a POV via the horse as the story shifts its focus to a succession of characters (including an elderly French farmer played wonderfully by Niels Arestrup) who interact with Joey. After receiving a sketch of Joey from the officer, Albert enlists in the military to fight and also retrieve his lost horse.

The acting from the principals and supporting players is fine. There’s not a weak link in the bunch. But honestly, the real star of the show is the horse, who according to Spielberg, was played by a dozen horses. It’s hard to assess the thespian ability of a horse (or horses) but the animal actors are very majestic-looking and magnetic. My favorite scene in the film is when Joey is trapped by barbed wire in a “No Man’s Land” war zone, separating the British regiment from their German foes. What transpires next is as heartrending as it’s emotionally manipulative and maudlin. But you won’t care one bit.

Though War Horse is obvious in its tug-the-heart-strings artifice, there’s a genuine layer of old-fashioned warmth and sincerity in the film that harkens back to the oeuvre of Frank Capra and John Ford. For people looking to take their families to a movie that won’t embarrass them (the film is very low on blood-letting), War Horse should nicely fill the ticket.

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