Though I'm more than willing to sit through this kind of thing, I got it pretty quickly, and eventually overdosed on the glorious horsey-ness of it.

This is the fastidiously rendered work of a craftsman, and a sob-inducing, beautifully old-fashioned affair which is bound to irritate the hell out of a younger audience.

The movie is not only a better version of the book, it's a work unto itself. The story is subtler, and the moral issues it raises are far more complex.

Even though the movie plods in places, its acting and production values are first class.