Flicka (Film)

Flicka is a 2006 film loosely based on the 1941 children's novel My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara. The film is directed by Michael Mayer. The novel has previously been made into a film by 20th Century Fox back in 1943 (received generally positive and favorable from critics and fans of the original novel, and served

as the inspiration for a 39-episode TV series in 1956–1957.

In this version, set in the 21st century, the protagonist isn't a boy, but a girl, played by Alison Lohman. The movie also features Maria Bello, Ryan Kwanten and country singer Tim McGraw, who also served as executive producer of the soundtrack album.

This USD15 million-budgeted film grossed $21 million in the United States theaters,[1]  and then it went on to become a surprise hit in DVD market in the United States; it made more than $48 million on DVD sales[2]  and more than $19 million on DVD/Home Video rental.[3]

Contents
[hide]  *1 Plot ==Plot[edit] == 
 * 2 Cast
 * 3 Animal deaths
 * 4 Sequel
 * 5 Soundtrack
 * 5.1 Chart performance
 * 6 References
 * 7 External links

Sixteen year-old Katherine "Katy" McLaughlin (Alison Lohman) has big dreams of administering her father's Wyoming horse ranch one day, but her father, Rob, (Tim McGraw) has other plans for his daughter. He is currently grooming her older brother, Howard (Ryan Kwanten), to take over the ranch and sends Katy away to an exclusive private school where she feels like a misfit. Being a similar, independent spirit to Katy, Rob has a hard time understanding his daughter as she continually defies his authority to follow her own path.

When she comes home for the summer, Katy is instantly met with her father's disapproval because she didn't finish a writing assignment on one of her finals, but is happily greeted by her mother, Nell, (Maria Bello) and Howard. As much as Katy wants to run the ranch, Howard doesn't. He longs to attend college, but has a hard time telling his father about his dream because he doesn't want to disappoint Rob.

One day while out riding, Katy discovers a wild mustang, a beautiful jet black mare. Katy feels an instant connection with the horse, seeing she is just as strong and free spirited as herself. She sets off to tame the mare, whom she names "Flicka", despite Rob's protests that he doesn't want a mustang near his horses, feeling it will cause nothing but trouble.

Later on, Flicka is captured when the family and their fellow ranchers are rounding up the herds. Katy is excited and wants to start training her. Rob still doesn't want a wild horse running amok on his ranch and forbids Katy from going near Flicka. Determined to prove that she can run the ranch just as well as Howard, Katy defies Rob and starts working with the mare at night. Flicka slowly warms to Katy and the two developed an extraordinary bond that moves everyone on the ranch.

When Rob finds out that Katy has disobeyed him again, he sells Flicka to the rodeo, leaving Katy devastated. Both Nell and Howard are furious at Rob, saying that they make decisions about the ranch as a family and that he went behind their backs by making one without including them, especially because he knew it was wrong. Seeing his sister heartbroken over losing her beloved horse, Howard finally stands up to his father and says that he doesn't want the ranch.

The family becomes even more divided when Rob refuses to return Flicka. Still angry at him for deeply hurting Katy and feeling betrayed themselves, Nell and Howard refuse to help Rob with the ranch, which he is now considering selling since Howard doesn't want it. Meanwhile, isolated in her room, Katy starts writing about Flicka to try and escape her pain.

With the upcoming rodeo slowly approaching, Katy sees the opportunity to get Flicka back with Howard and his girlfriend, Miranda's (Kaylee DeFer) help. At the rodeo, Howard and a disguised Katy enter the competition that Flicka is being used in. Not realizing who she is at first, the mare runs from Katy until Katy calls her name. Rob, however, catches onto his daughter's plan and tries to intervene. As Katy freezes at the sight of her father, afraid that she is about to lose Flicka again, Howard quickly boosts his sister onto the mare's back and lets the two escape.

Lost in the mountains, Katy doesn't know how to get back home in the dark. Since she knows the terrain even in the dark, Flicka slowly makes her way back to the ranch, carrying Katy on her back. As a fierce thunderstorm moves in, the family reconciles and starts searching for Katy. As they near the ranch, Katy and Flicka are attacked by a mountain lion. Flicka protects Katy, but is severally wounded in the process. Katy ties her shirt around the mare's wounds and refuses to leave her. Already wet and cold, the girl quickly develops a high fever.

After searching for hours, Rob finds the two and brings a delirious Katy back to the house. As her fever spikes dangerously high, Katy calls for Flicka as Nell tends to her, hoping the fever will break. Rob thinks Flicka is mortally wounded and believes she should be put down. When his fellow ranchers refuse, knowing Katy will hear the shot, Rob decides to do it. Overhearing the argument, Katy stumbles into the room and gives her dad permission to shoot the horse, saying "you can shoot us" as she cries.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0.5em;margin-left:0px;line-height:1.5em;">Heartbroken by her words, Rob goes outside and sits on the porch, beginning to cry himself as he realizes how much pain he's caused his daughter. Later, a gunshot is heard and Katy bursts into tears, thinking Flicka's dead.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0.5em;margin-left:0px;line-height:1.5em;">Early the next morning, Nell goes downstairs and sees Rob walking back to the house, supporting the injured Flicka. She rushes outside to help support the mare and finds out that Rob found Flicka standing when he returned and the shot was him shooting the mountain lion that attacked both Flicka and Katy. Both Nell and Rob are stunned that the mare is still alive and decide not to put her down. Katy's fever breaks and over the next couple of days, slowly begins to recover. As he watches over his daughter, Rob finds the story that Katy had been writing about Flicka and begins reading it.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0.5em;margin-left:0px;line-height:1.5em;">The next day, Katy wakes up and the two reconcile. Rob then takes her downstairs and Katy is shocked to see Flicka, bandaged but alive. Rob tells Katy that Flicka is hers and that she'll have to take care of her once she's well. Katy also learns that her dad typed up her story and sent it in to her school so she could pass for the year. Rob also gives Howard his blessing and he prepares for college. As a family, they decide to not sell the ranch, making it a refuge for wild mustangs as well as a working ranch. The film ends with Katy riding Flicka across the beautiful Wyoming landscape.

==Cast<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;font-weight:normal;margin-left:1em;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[edit] ==
 * Alison Lohman – Katy McLaughlin
 * Tim McGraw – Rob McLaughlin
 * Maria Bello – Nell McLaughlin
 * Ryan Kwanten – Howard McLaughlin
 * Danny Pino – Jack
 * Dallas Roberts – Gus
 * Kaylee DeFer – Miranda Koop
 * Jeffrey Nordling – Rick Koop
 * Dey Young – Esther Koop
 * Nick Searcy – Norbert Rye
 * Buck Taylor – Wagner

Animal cast

 * Flicka


 * Farm Quarter Horses
 * Mountain Lion
 * Henry (Bull snake)

==Animal deaths<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;font-weight:normal;margin-left:1em;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[edit] == <p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0.5em;margin-left:0px;line-height:1.5em;">Two horses died during the production of this movie. The first death occurred at Big Sky Ranch in Simi Valley, California, on April 11, 2005 during a running scene. According to the American Humane Association (AHA), the horse broke its leg after a misstep and suffered a very rare injury requiring the animal to be euthanized. The AHA's report concluded that the "death was accidental and could not have been predicted or prevented."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-AHA_4-0" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-weight:normal;">[4]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0.5em;margin-left:0px;line-height:1.5em;">The second horse died two weeks later on April 25, 2005, at the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center in San Fernando Valley. Reports from both the AHA and the Los Angeles Animal Services Department concluded that during the shooting of a scene involving four horses, one of them got loose from the cowboy who was holding its lead rope, and after having been running loose for some 20 seconds, the horse changed direction and tripped on the regulation length 13-foot lead rope and fell to the ground, breaking its neck and dying instantly.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-AHA_4-1" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-weight:normal;">[4]  As the accident would not have happened if the horse had not come loose, the Los Angeles Animal Services Department concluded that the accident had been preventable.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-weight:normal;">[5]  However, after an investigation, the AHA declared that the deaths were not the fault of the filmmakers.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-AHA_4-2" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-weight:normal;">[4] ==Sequel<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;font-weight:normal;margin-left:1em;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[edit] == <p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0.5em;margin-left:0px;line-height:1.5em;">A sequel to Flicka, Flicka 2 was released direct to DVD on May 4, 2010. Pre-production cinematography started in April 2009. The sequel bears an entirely new cast and character list and is not a direct follow-up to Flicka. Flicka 2 features Patrick Warburton, Tammin Sursok and Clint Black. The movie was directed by Michael Damian. Another sequel, Flicka: Country Pride, was released on May 1, 2012. With Damien returning as director, it also features Clint Black, along with Kacey Rohl, Black's wife Lisa Hartman-Black, Max Lloyd-Jones, Siobhan Williams, Laura Solties and Alexander Calvert.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0.5em;margin-left:0px;line-height:1.5em;">When asked if the Flicka franchise could follow the Air Bud, Beethoven and Marley & Me franchises by having its animal star talk, Damien responded, "I don’t think so. But you know, never say never, because you never know what will happen. Stranger things have happened. I’m open to everything."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-weight:normal;">[6]

==Soundtrack<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;font-weight:normal;margin-left:1em;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[edit] == <p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0.5em;margin-left:0px;line-height:1.5em;">A soundtrack album was released October 17, 2006.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-weight:normal;">[7] ===Chart performance<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;font-weight:normal;margin-left:1em;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[edit] ===