Adeel Hail
Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.
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A tender story about a teenager who loses her sight after a riding accident and has to learn to cope with her new life. Not quite embracing any of the guide dogs offered to her, her life begins anew when the guide dog trainer decides to train an adorable miniature horse to be her companion animal. Obviously geared towards the older single digit crowd, this story unfolds without a single emotional outburst or anything that might possibly scar the young ones. In this world, going blind carries with it the same inconvenience as having to take out the trash or do the dishes. Ugh, chores. Ugh, blindness. But maybe that's good in teaching the lesson that it really is not a big deal, and everyone should be treated the same. Of laughable distinction though, and worth mentioning, is the casting of the parents. Amy Smart and Liam McIntyre are both just old enough to seem ancient to any nine year old, and since that's the target audience we can ignore the fact that they lack chemistry as a couple, bear no resemblance to their child, and give off more of an auditioning actor vibe than a parent concerned with their 16 year old daughter's new disability. Add to that the fact that lead actress Avery Arendes, though entirely capable, carries herself with such seriousness that the presumed age gap between her and her parents shrinks. So for heart, this film gets a solid two thumbs up from the under ten in me. But the middle schooler inside is looking down his nose at me and wants to kill me for picking this on Netflix.
