War Horse finishes out of the money

Above all, Steven Spielberg tries hard to make great entertainment for the broadest possible film audience, his films have high moral aspirations, he insists - from the very first - on great narratives with a clear plot line and a final resolution, the characters generally are sharply drawn and they evolve through action, and the production values are always of the highest order - including cinematography, art direction, musical score (John Williams) - can anyone today do a crowd or battle scene better than Spielberg? Can any say Oscar? All that said - why is "War Horse" such a dud? The movie has all the qualities I've just referenced, yet it feels to me as if it just doesn't have a heart. First of all, entertainment, even epic entertainment, does require a reasonable pace, and at 2.20 this film is way too long and indulgent. Second, though Black Beauty may be an exception - these films work when best when we care about the human characters at least as much or more than the animals. WH follows the horse from auction to farm work, to war (WWI in France) as he passes through a string of new owners and rescuers and abusers - so at the end (spoilers here, I guess) we don't really feel much emotion when he's restored to his original owner - we've forgotten about this guy, who, by the way, seems far too old for the part. Over all, the whole film wears its intentions on its sleeve - there are no surprises or mysteries, lots of shopworn cliches (the evil landlord, for one) and other feckless sorts. Though Spielberg does a fine job showing the horrors of trench warfare, the movie is so drained of politics (no sense what the war is about), of desire (it's a family movie after all), even of serious villainy (we may be blasting one another to smithereens but we all like horses!) that it's hard to know who will really like this movie. It's a film the whole family can enjoy - or maybe not.