"War Horse" (PG-13, 146 minutes, DreamWorks/Disney): Man's inhumanity to man is examined through a boy's mystical connection to a horse in Steven Spielberg's stirring, expertly manipulative adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's 1982 novel. The plucky steed is named Joey, a spirited colt admired from a distance by an English farm boy named Albert.
When Albert's father, Ted, unexpectedly buys Joey, at first the boy is overjoyed. When Ted's landlord demands funds he's due, it looks as if the family will have to sell Joey - until Albert coaxes him to plow an entire rocky field.
When World War I dawns, Ted sells the horse, this time to the British forces, a stint that will send the steed on a punishing odyssey through the war's bloodiest battlefields. With its bucolic vistas, soaring music, high-keyed lighting and magical plot convergences, "War Horse" would be too grandiose and simplistically fablelike to take were it not for Spielberg's masterfully constructed set pieces and the consistently steady human performances.
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More crucially, Joey proves to be a thoroughly charismatic protagonist. Spielberg has created an appropriate showcase for the magnificent creature that emerges, one that recalls the great movie horses of yore in a story guaranteed to pluck, grab and wring viewers' hearts, but thankfully not break them.
"Chasing Madoff" (unrated, 91 minutes, Cohen Media): There is more than one alarming injustice in "Chasing Madoff," the documentary about a whistle-blower everyone ignored, to the detriment of retirement funds worldwide. Boston portfolio manager Harry Markopolos uncovered Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme back in 1999.
It didn't take much digging or strenuous number crunching to see the mathematical impossibility of Madoff's returns, so Markopolos figured that bringing the scandal to light would be equally simple. Yet he spent the subsequent decade offering his proof to government officials, the Securities and Exchange Commission and major newspapers, and he was ignored time and again.
Director Jeff Prosserman makes a compelling case that the widespread blindness wasn't mere cluelessness, so much as evidence that Madoff's tentacles reached just about every corner of every industry. Interviews with Markopolos and the two men who aided his anti-Madoff crusade - Neil Chelo and Frank Casey - form the foundation of the movie, while a few victims offer devastating proof of Madoff's legacy.
Also released Tuesday
"We Bought a Zoo"
"Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey"
"Ayn Rand and the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged"
"Tyrannosaur"
"Space Dogs"
"Griefwalker"
