Hidalgo, would've been the last thing I would have wanted to do if I were "King" Viggo Mortensen after a lengthy Lord of the Rings shoot. Yet, here he is saddled up and plunging himself into another epic, I believe, I might have taken a brief holiday from horses if it were me, lounge about the pool some.

Viggo's new epic is the horse race adventure Hidalgo, a rather old fashioned if cliched film in which Mr. Mortensen plays an old school cowboy who risks his life and the life of his horse in the name of money and, more importantly, self discovery, as he takes part in a deadly 3000 mile trek through the deserts of Arabia.

Based on the real life of Frank T. Hopkins (played by Mortensen), Hidalgo (the name of Hopkins' horse), is more a tale of friendship and trust than anything else. While this adventure gives us everything from a massive sand storm, to a terrifying cheetah attack, to deadly sword duels, what works best is the relationship between Hopkins and his trusty horse.

Hidalgo is absolutely huge in scope. Director Joe Johnston (who directed the magical and, in my opinion, incredibly underrated Rocketeer), has an obvious love for the epics of yesteryear, and his Hidalgo doesn't skimp on lush locations, authentic costumes, massive sets, breathtaking cinematography and a stirring score.

Unfortunately, the uneven and somewhat cliched screenplay keep it from reaching it's full potential. Hopkins drinks to forget his troubled past, a scenario which we've seen countless times, and with better results I might add. And for the most part, many of the Arabian characters are stereotypes and portrayed as nasty villains, although it could be argued that that's how these characters were in real life. Still, there was something rather processed about the fashion in which many of these parts were drawn.

Viggo Mortensen is quite good here despite the fact that, even though he's the star of the show, he's surprisingly underwritten. His Hopkins hasn't the same depth as say, Kevin Costner's Lieutenant Dunbar in Dances With Wolves. On the other hand, this is an old school throwback in which the story is more about adventure rather than character.

The legendary Omar Sharif is charming and charismatic as ruler Sheikh Riyadh. It was a delight to watch him up there on the screen and I can hardly wait to seem him in the recently released Monsieur Ibrahim et les Fleurs du Coran in which he plays a lovable Arab deli owner.

And then, of course, we have the title character played by gorgeous mustang TJ. As was the case in Seabiscuit, I really found myself caring for this horse. He wasn't merely an animal, he was a character. Apparently Mortnensen had a great fondness for the horse as well for he bought him after the movie was done shooting.

I enjoyed Hidalgo to a certain extent. For a so-called grand adventure, it wasn't consistently thrilling. It had moments, including a thrillingly staged cheetah attack and an awesome battle sequence involving commanding supporting player Peter Mensah. Unfortunately, the film is bogged down by a slightly tedious pace and too many obvious and manipulative plot devices.

Hidalgo's screenplay never quite matches up to the film's massive scope. It's thrills are sporadic at best, but thankfully, the central relationship between a man and his faithful horse give the film just enough inspiration. Seabiscuit it's not, but you could do far worse then the moderately rousing Hidalgo.