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Clichés are usually clichés because they're true, and formulas are generally formulas because they work. Dreamer, the new equestrian movie from DreamWorks, is loaded with enough clichés and formulas to choke a horse. But truly, it works. Kids who haven't seen many other horse movies will find the story thrilling; adults will likely find it engaging in a nostalgic sort of way.

Ben Crane (Kurt Russell) and his daughter Cale (Dakota Fanning) are trying to get their horse ready for the Breeders' Cup

Ben Crane (Kurt Russell) has the only horse farm in Kentucky that is devoid of even a single horse. Hard times have forced him to sell off the property, piece by piece, and all he has left is the land his house and ramshackle barn stand on. With no animals of his own, Ben is forced to use his gift for horse training to produce winning racers for Nasty Rich Guys (including a petulant prince obsessed with finding horses to beat his brother's stallion). The whole state of affairs has Ben distracted and more than a little grumpy. His long-suffering wife Lily (Elizabeth Shue) seems willing to roll with the punches (and take extra shifts at the local diner to help make ends meet), but Ben's young daughter Cale (Dakota Fanning) is a bundle of worry and longing. She wants a horse on the Crane Farm almost as desperately as she wants a relationship with her dad.

Estranged family relationships come naturally to Ben, who is barely speaking to his own father (Kris Kristofferson), even though they live side-by-side on the same bit of remaining Crane property. Both men have the horse business in their blood, both have been burned by it, and neither one is willing to stop blaming and avoiding the other. The only common ground they can admit to is their love for Cale.

Lily (Elisabeth Shue) and Ben see new hope for their family when they work together to save an injured racehorse

The family's fortunes begin to change the morning Cale insists that her father take her to work with him. It happens to be the day of a big race, and Ben is overseeing the well-being of a horse with enormous promise name Sonador (Sonya for short). Sonya has a very good shot at winning the day's race, but something is wrong. She's favoring a knee and acting skittish, and after Ben has a good talk with her (think The Horse Whisperer), he becomes convinced that she shouldn't race. He's overruled by his arrogant and opportunistic boss, Mr. Palmer (David Morse), and tragedy ensues. When Sonya goes down with an apparently career-ending injury, Palmer orders her destroyed. Not wanting Cale to witness the procedure, Ben delays and eventually refuses his bosses' wishes, losing his job in the process. Against his better judgment (and swayed by the heartbroken compassion of his daughter), he negotiates the right to keep Sonya as part of his severance pay, and before he knows it the Crane Horse Farm has a very injured horse in its stables. The miraculous recovery of the horse—and of the family who loves her—provides the predictable but effective narrative arc of the rest of the movie.

Cale (Fanning) earns the trust of an injured racehorse, who becomes her constant companion

John Gatins, an experienced screenwriter (Coach Carter, Hardball), makes his directorial debut with Dreamer. Gatins points to the true-life comeback of an injured racehorse named Mariah's Storm as his inspiration, but most of the plot twists in Dreamer seem to come from the pantheon of previously-told horse stories. An injured but courageous animal … A trainer/owner who needs to believe in dreams again … A talented but traumatized jockey who may never return to the track … Dreamer is virtually surprise-free, and it's tempting to re-subtitle the film Inspired by a True Story and Also That Seabiscuit Movie. But, to be fair, long before Seabiscuit, there were three National Velvets and no less than five Black Stallion films. It seems there are some stories we don't mind hearing again and again.

If Gatins' familiar (and sometimes oddly plodding) script is salvaged by the reliable power of any good Underdog Story, it's elevated by an exceptional cast. Originally written as a boy-and-his-horse tale, Dreamer was adapted in order to feature Fanning (and secure studio support in the process). Fanning (War of the Worlds, Cat in the Hat) has taken the place of the now-relatively-aged Haley Joel Osment as Child-Actor-Du-Jour, and she would run the risk of over-exposure if she weren't so freakishly good in every role she plays. (Her recent turn in a very different movie, Nine Lives, placed her opposite consummate actor Glenn Close—and Fanning held her own in every respect). Fanning is Dreamer's emotional center and manages to be an empathetic and endearing protagonist without any cloying cutesy-ness. Russell is equally compelling, and Kristofferson is an inspired choice as his father—when both actors are in the same shot, it's hard to believe that they aren't actually related. Shue brings more warmth to Lily than the flimsy script deserves, and even the horse is effective. (Sonador is actually played by three horses and several other stunt-double animals, but the portrayal is convincing.)

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