One of my favorite movies is The Horse Whisperer. I stumbled upon it one day and watched it and was instantly taken in. I absolutely adore tortured love stories — the more tortured, the better! And this movie has plenty of tortured love: Grace and her parents, Annie and Tom, Annie and Robert, Annie and Tom. I am not always a huge fan of Kristin Scott Thomas’s but she is so good in this role, playing it with a hard edge, vulnerability, and trepidation all wrapped up in one complex character. Robert Redford’s aloofness is natural and an absolute turn on! And Scarlett Johansson plays one of the best roles in her career, in my opinion, in this movie.

I love watching the relationship between Annie and Grace grow. As a mom, I remember those difficult teenage years with my own daughter, and I didn’t have to also manage the trauma that Annie had to manage with Grace. I find the relationship between Annie and Robert to be an interesting study, trying to determine right along with them what the best path for their marriage should be. And then there’s Annie and Tom. The chemistry between the two of them is gentle yet overpowering. As a viewer, you know they really don’t belong together at all but you find yourself wanting them to be together anyway.

One of my all-time favorite movie scenes ever is from this film. It is the climax in the attraction between Annie and Tom as they dance together, surrounded by so many other people, including Robert and Grace, but becoming so completely lost in each other, they forget there is a world around them. We viewers are waiting for the big scene where they finally consummate their relationship, but this is as much as we get — their dance. I have told people it is one of the sexiest, most erotic love scenes that has absolutely no sex and no nudity. Watch it here:

I have always meant to read the book to see if it is just as tortured as the movie. Someday, I will. If you’re like me and just adore getting lost in impossible love stories, then maybe you might like to watch The Horse Whisperer.