Monday, September 7, 2020

Movie Review: Painted Horses

Watching Painted Horses was just what I needed the other night. A sweet, soothing movie to end the tough day.



Ms. Hoog is a high school teacher in transition. She has left her home and her job to live with her Aunt in a very small town. She is a young, suddenly single mother who is focused on securing insurance and income so that her young son can have the surgery he needs. Ms. Hoog is a young teacher who is nearly driven to quit on her first day. Despite warnings during her interview for the position, she accepts the job.

"These particular kids have a knack for chewing teachers up and spitting them out."

Her classroom is a small group of mis-matched high school kids who do not work well together. Sorry, that was a gross understatement. They fight each other and demean each other. When they do join forces it is to join against the new teacher. The group of students includes the usual subsets of groups: the goody-two-shoes, the angry guy with the knife, the boy scout, the nerds, the rich girl, and the creepy silent kid. Immediately, some of the kids plan to have Ms. Hoog fired.

The thing is... Ms Hoog LOVES history and she has been hired to teach it. And she will do nearly anything so she can schedule her son's surgery. The question is whether or not she's be able to spark the students' imaginations and become their teacher rather than their target. Perhaps her stories of Tennessee's buried and lost treasures can engage these students. 

In addition to the students giving the new teacher a hard time, some of the town leaders are suspicious of the new resident. 

Painted Horses is Breakfast Club meets Freedom Writers and reminded me of Disney on Sunday nights. Wow!  I am giving away my age for sure! I wonder how many people will know what I am referring to. 


This movie is without nudity, profanity, blood and gore. A knife is brandished on a couple of occasions but there is no graphic fight scene. The theme is about teaching, learning, and being in control of the trajectory of your life. I chose the movie because I thought it was focused on horses however horses only made a brief appearance. But I'm still glad I chose to watch. A few negative reviews of the movie cite poor acting and small errors. I agree that this is clearly not a movie with a huge budget or the top handful of celebrities. Honestly, I found it refreshing to watch new (new-to-me) faces.

I have to mention that Aunt Nora was played by Deana Carter. At times, I laughed out loud. Aunt Nora is a perfect example of a bossy, nosy, and supportive aunt. 




Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


7 comments:

  1. Breakfast Club was my youngest son's very favorite movie. He probably saw it 20 times and can quote whole lines and scenes from it. So he'd probably enjoy Painted Horses. I'll have to tell him about it. :)

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  2. It sounds like a wonderful movie to me! I know how much you love the real painted horses in the wild, Dawn. I'm not surprised you would be drawn to this movie. While others are drawn because it is a classroom story, or the story about a struggling single mom, there are others of us who love the horses. What a shame that the horses only make a brief appearance.

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  3. I love this type of movie. Thank you for introducing it to me. Throughout my career, I have always chosen to serve this exact kind of student population. It does stretch one to the max.

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  4. Dawn, this movie sounds like the perfect type of gentle, sweet, inspirational film to soothe our hearts and souls during these troubled times. I'm looking forward to watching it!

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  5. Dawn you and I must have had the same kind of day. I found this movie after a long, long day and you are right, it's just what a soul needs at times like that. Painted Horses is a movie that speaks to my heart and helped me to find the good in my crazy world. Along with you I highly recommend it.

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  6. I'm thinking I've seen this? I'll be looking for it now. The movie sounds like a nice way to spend an evening. I'm looking forward to seeing to remember if I've seen it! lol

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  7. Breakfast Club meets Freedom Writers - two favorite movies ! Will be adding Painted Horses to the must see list - thanks for the review!

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