A boy and his (really big, really strange) dog

Story: Angus MacMorrow (Alex Etel) is the lonely son of the head housekeeper of a Scottish manor, on the shores of Loch Ness. It is World War Two, and Angus’s father went to serve in the Royal Navy. Angus is struggling to accept the possibility that his father might not come back.

While Angus is not allowed to have any pets, as his family does not own the estate where they live, he unexpectedly finds a most unexpected pet, when he brings an egg back from the shore of Loch Ness. A magical creature, straight out of Celtic legends, the water horse is also known as a kelpie. It is now known by another name: the Loch Ness monster. But, when the egg hatches, what emerges acts much more like a puppy than a monster. However, water horses grow very rapidly, and the situation quickly gets out of hand, as Angus tries to keep his pet, whom he has named Crusoe, a secret.

Two other factors come into play, as a mysterious stranger, Lewis Mowbray (Ben Chaplin) shows up, plus a detachment of the Royal Army arrives under the dubious leadership of Captain Thomas Hamilton (David Morrissey). Captain Hamilton distrusts Lewis, and is very attracted to Angus's mother, Anne Mac Morrow (Emily Watson). Hamilton also feels that Angus needs more discipline, while Lewis and Angus become friends, as well as allies in keeping Crusoe a secret. It is Lewis who recognizes Crusoe as the legendary water horse.

Things get very complicated when Hamilton pursues his cockamamie idea that Loch Ness will become a front in the war, vulnerable to a German submarine attack. His response to this bizarre idea, that might be an unconscious, or conscious, way for Hamilton to keep himself out of any real fighting, eventually puts Crusoe and Angus in great jeopardy. This all leads to a stunning, fast-paced climax, where both tragedy and triumph are possible. One suggestion: If you watch this film have no lights on in the room, when you watch that sequence, as it is very dark.

Cast: There are no weak spots in the cast, but four characters really stand out and dominate their scenes.

The entire story is actually being told, in retrospect, in modern-day Scotland, by an older gentleman to a pair of tourists, in a pub. You do not find out who the older man until the very end, but he tells the tale perfectly, and captures the attention of his audience, and mine. He is portrayed by Brian Cox, and he is perfectly cast.

Ben Chaplin portrays the mysterious Lewis Mowbray, and he is also perfectly cast. Despite his air of mystery and tendency to be evasive about his past, he gives a thoroughly likeable Mowbray, whom you know, and Angus knows, can be trusted.

Alex Etel was a real find by director Jay Russell, and is brilliant as Angus. He gives us a very credible little boy who desperately wants to believe in some things, while not wanting to believe the awful reality of his father’s fate. Much of the film focuses on Angus, and he never stumbles or disappoints. In the Special Features, you see that Jay Russell immediately knew he had found the right boy to portray Angus, when he met him. You also see how physically demanding the role was.

The other main character is Crusoe, and it is a real tribute to the special effects team that they could take computer-generated graphics and a set of models, and give us a magical beast that is noble, powerful, vulnerable, playful, thoroughly bonded with Angus, and highly expressive. I was especially impressed that, while the water horse grows rapidly, and does change as he grows, Crusoe remains Crusoe throughout the film. Plus, I never felt the interactions between Crusoe and the human actors were "off" or not realistic-looking.

Casting the Location: Jay Russell put a lot of thinking into the locations he chose. Some of the shots are, indeed, from the shores of Loch Ness, but many could not be done there, as it is now too crowded to look like the Scottish Highlands during World War Two. He thus shot those sequences in New Zealand.

Special Effects: I have already given a hearty thumbs-up to the team that gave us a highly credible Crusoe, but the special effects team had another challenge, as part of the high-action sequence near the end. I do not want to divulge too much, but Crusoe had to "physically" interact with a large patrol boat, and that scene looked entirely real.

Two memorable moments: There is a famous/infamous photograph of the Loch Ness monster, taken back in the thirties, that was later proven to be bogus. This film gives us a moment of comic relief, by giving a version of how that picture came to be.

Just as Angus's mother is chastising him for believing in the old water horse legend, and giving Lewis an equally hard time for encouraging Angus to believe in such nonsense, all the characters stop looking at her, and look behind her. Her look, when she turns around, is priceless, and rivals the moment of wonder we saw in Sam Neill and Laura Dern, early in the original Jurassic Park.

Soundtrack: The music in this movie fit the mood perfectly, and was very subtle. I did not even notice it, until I listened for it. Some movies have a soundtrack that is a huge component of the film, like Shrek, but The Water Horse was near the other end of the spectrum.

Special Features: There are three basic sections to the Special Features: Previews, Deleted Scenes, and Featurettes on the making of The Water Horse.

I have never been big on Previews, as they are marketing techniques that typically over-sell the movie. The best preview I ever saw was for Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, which I think was one star better than the movie itself, which was good. The previews here are fine, but I pay them little heed.

There have been a few situations where the Special Features of a film had deleted scenes, and I found the deletions frustrating, as one or more should not have been deleted, in my opinion. The best example I can think of is a deleted scene from Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone, where we saw Professor Snape first humiliating Harry (that was left in the film) and then shifting briefly to a commanding, actually charismatic teacher, really teaching. That part was deleted. Argh. Anyway, for The Water Horse, most of the deleted scenes were rightfully deleted. One, though, should have been left in, wherein Ben Chaplin’s character acts as a diversion so that Angus can sneak out, while Emily Watson explains things that are otherwise only hinted at in the movie. I think that segment, about five minutes long, should have been left in.

The rest of the Special Features focus on how they made the film, and these were more interesting than most the-making-of segments. The main topics were helping the young Alex Etel work with a generally very experienced staff, making the water horse look as real as possible, and helping the cast be able to interact, in a realistic-looking way, with a major character, the water horse, who was not there.

Technical Statistics: This movie gives you many choices, and I like choices. You have it in English or in French, and you can have either English of French subtitles, or none. You can view it in anamorphic widescreen format (2.40:1) or in full screen format (1.33:1). This is all on the same DVD.

The movie runs 112 minutes, and is mastered in High Definition. There is Dolby sound (digital for English, surround for French). It is rated PG, as there are some scenes with potential violence, plus the subject matter can be quite strong, emotionally, at times.