Fresh Horses
Tags: depressing

Plot synopsis:
Cincinnati college senior Matt Larkin (Andrew McCarthy) seems to have a picture perfect life: he is well-liked at his mid-western college, that he is soon to graduate, fiancée, friends, parties and good times. But when Matt meets Jewel (Molly Ringwald), his carefully constructed house of cards falls apart and changes him forever.
Matt’s content with his very proper fiancée and his safe life, so when his best friend Tipton (Ben Stiller) relates a story of a night spent in a rough country house filled with seedy characters, beer, music and women, Matt initially scoffs at the idea of visiting. However, as he ponders his imminent marriage, he decides to check it out - no harm done, just a little fun before life gets serious.
The two drive out to the house, in the "boonies", expecting a wild party, however, when they arrive, they find only the aftermath of a debaucherous night—cigarette butts and bottles strewn everywhere, a bluesy ZZ Top tune on the stereo, a solitary biker playing pool and a woman’s muffled giggle coming from upstairs. Disappointed, Matt goes to fetch a beer for Tipton and in doing so, in the kitchen, meets Jewel.
Jewel is all mystery and trailer park at the same time. She’s a poor Kentucky girl, obviously grown up uneducated, yet Matt is instantly drawn to her. He returns to seek her out and the attraction they share is obvious. Despite their social differences, Matt is completely infatuated.
His life soon does a 180. He breaks off his engagement, sneaks out at night and stops seeing his friends. However Matt is yet to figure out who exactly Jewel is and discover the secrets she is hiding (including an abusive husband and stepfather, the shady people that hang around the house, as well as the fact she is underage).
As a result, the two worlds collide and it seems they are doomed by circumstance. After Matt has a run in with Jewel’s spouse, the ultra-seedy Green (Viggo Mortensen), Matt and Jewel break up. Jewel separates from Green, eventually meeting someone new at college.

Review: And why?Silly questions aside, Fresh Horses is a film with an adult story aimed at using the onscreen chemistry of Andrew McCarthy and Molly Ringwald, (who were first paired as everyone knows in the excellent Pretty In Pink) in a serious love story.
Ringwald is Jewel, a mysterious country girl, all pink lips and tousled curly hair.
She meets Matt (McCarthy) a college upper middle class guy with a pretty stable and boring life.
She has a past and a reputation, but he becomes smitten with her and attempts to change his life so they can be together.As my Video and Movie Guide said, this film is just an adult version of Pretty In Pink.
I really liked it then, and have been trying to get this on DVD for years.I was afraid that the film wouldn't be as good as I remembered, and it wasn't in the WAY that I remembered, but it was BETTER in ways that I didn't have the experience or maturity to appreciate at the time.While aspects of the film are dated, namely the syrupy, St. Elmo's Fire-ish theme song in the opening/closing credits, it held up surprisingly well.
Also, for the people who don't seem to get the "Fresh Horses" reference, my take on it is not definitive, but there is a line where Ben Stiller is talking to Matt (McCarthy) and says something to the effect of letting a tired horse go, and getting a "fresh horse" in reference to dropping Jewel.It seemed to me that the metaphor was that while the characters all cared about each other, each relationship("horse") had more selfish/cynical motivations behind them.
In effect, the relationships were being used to move themselves from one-point to another towards their goals/desires, whether or not they themselves understood or acknowledged them.Ringwald uses McCarthy to get out of her marriage, McCarthy uses Ringwald to get out of his engagement, Stiller seems to use his friendship with McCarthy to avoid growing up and getting serious, McCarthy seems to be trying to fulfill an image of himself as a white-knight, though he finds that he doesn't have the character, he also seems to need the superiority he feels over Jewel due to her lack of education and so on....Unfortunately for most(it seems!), the movie required you to do a little thinking, and probably drew the wrong crowd due to its co-stars, who were maybe expecting Pretty in Pink II, or Pretty In Pink "for adults", but I do not agree with that view of the movie.If you haven't seen it, give it a shot.
do rather well with the subject matter- albeit limited, and as a previous review mentioned, ("Pretty In Pink, Redux")...sometimes there is fault with pop culture trying to seem clever; just ask Stephen King.Ringwald is a decent actor, and was unfortunately pegged into these type roles for awhile- I will have to watch her later films to compare, as it seem she has not been given enough range.
Since this film was made in the late 80's; there needs to be a twist; Andrew McCarthy provides a sympathetic character-trying to do the right thing.
I seem to remember films like "American Psycho" reflecting , more accurately, the political and social climate of the times.What the audience does see, is interesting and expository.
For example; why do the Ben Stiller and McCarthy character have to visit their college girlfriends at their indoor/outdoor swimming pool?; this is a gross exaggeration.
I can remember films like "Soul Man" (1989) and "Who's That Girl" (Madonna- throw-away trash film) The Ringwald character could have been better developed, she is a townie; married too young; the speech when she explains her childhood could have been more nuanced, more true to life.
Andrew McCarthy is a good actor, without the luxury of a story-line.In the late 80's, there were some films with social merit.
Molly Ringwald, softer and more contemplative than in her John Hughes/high school comedies, plays a shady girl from the wrong side of the tracks who meets and has an affair with preppy Cincinnati college kid Andrew McCarthy; the fact his rich friends disapprove and she has such a questionable background may prevent things from going further.
Ringwald struggles a bit with her redneck accent, and McCarthy does nothing to elevate his pinched, emotionally-parched persona, but the look of the film is quite vivid and the atmosphere is well-captured.
Ones that stick out in my mind are the pool party and the conversation afterwards, the scene where Ben Stiller talks to McCarthy about how difficult it is to make friends at their age,  and the strange scenes where McCarthy goes to the house in the woods and meets Jewel and her female friend.
The film looks visually stunning and makes you want to visit these places.
As for the title, I believe that at one point Stiller compares Molly to a worn out nag and says that McCarthy needs a "fresh horse" to ride, or something like that.
I remember renting this movie just after it came out on VHS, and I totally fell in love with it, here it is, almost 19 years later and I STILL love it!Andrew McCarthy's character is so real, you see men like him every day all across America, ready to get married for all the wrong reasons, or ones that seemed right to start with, then they wake up and see there's something more to their life around them.
You hurt for her, with her, then you're angry at her and you want to know the truth, and you feel the love.So many people hack this movie to death saying it's horrible.....but I don't think they've ever been in love so they wouldn't understand.
OK yes, it's a bit hokey in spots, and somewhat hard to believe, but it WAS 1988 when it was made, the decade when "Greed is good", so you have to look at it from that perspective.PLEASE, PLEASE watch it!
I think of all Molly's movies, "Fresh Horses" has to be the best.
I never forgot this movie or Ringwald's "Jewel", not only does she look absolutely stunning in this, but her acting is perfection.This movie is extremely underrated.
The characters simply jump out at you, the movie gets 10 of 10 for scenery and atmosphere, there's a compelling ethereal quality about this movie and Ringwald's Jewel and even though this was not her most popular movie it was her best hands down..
Near the end of the movie, I was expecting (whether I knew it or not), that Andrew McCarthy would say: "I believed in you, Jewel." And it'd end happily, in a parking lot, with some rain and bad music.But, as it was, it basically ended how any cheap movie ends, with some bad music, and the guy not getting the girl.I didn't find the performances from McCarthy and Ringwald to be particularly wonderful, or compelling.It was predictable.
I thought the landscaping, and the way Ringwald and McCarthy looked against it, was gorgeous.
This movie is really only for those who were/are serious fans of either Molly Ringwald or Andrew McCarthy.
McCarthy stars as a young man named Matt who is engaged to marry his socialite girlfriend, but scraps those plans when he meets Jewel(Ringwald).
The film follows Matt as he tries to figure out who exactly Jewel is and what secrets she might be hiding.
Overall, not a bad effort on Ringwald's part, but I would only recommend watching this movie if you happen to catch it on cable..
Andrew McCarthy plays a college student that falls in love with a less educated and less cultured young girl(Molly Ringwald).
Two immediate problems are: McCarthy needs to break off an engagement to his well to do girlfriend; only to find out that Ringwald is younger than he thinks and needs an annulment from an abusive husband.
Miss Ringwald is simply great in this role.Rounding out the cast are: Ben Stiller, Patti D'Arbanville, Viggo Mortensen and Molly Hagan.
Jeez, with friends like that, it's no wonder this lame movie got made - no one was brave enough to tell any of the cast how bad it was.
So, maybe at some point in his career Andrew managed to rustle up major chemistry, but in this movie, he manages to deliver the eternal best friend chemistry instead of the lost in lust type.
And Molly delivered some of her lines like she was reading them for the first time from the teleprompter ("I'm used" she says in the same tone she would use to announce "pink is my color") instead of part innocent/part femme fatale.
There aren't many universities that I can think of (maybe it's a Midwest thing?) that are so close to the swamps of Deliverance.When this movie came out, I really wanted to see it, because I loved St. Elmo's Fire.
This movie was filmed in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky, where I was living at the time.
I hung around some of the days of shooting, as the house where Molly Ringwald "lives" stands right outside my town.Andrew McCarthy was a darling who signed autographs, talked to whomever was around as if they were lifelong friends and even joined us for lunch.
a particularly haunting movie, especially for most of us who remember what it was like to be young, naive, and in a relationship that we wanted to work, but somehow intuitively knew wouldn't/couldn't, a relationship we knew had too little common ground.
Probably the best Molly Ringwald movie ever.
Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy have since both slid off the front pages but both give great performances in this movie.
The acting is wonderful by all the principals and the story is very believable.This would be a good film for a high school discussion group as it contains many themes:  marrying too young, mixing of social classes, infatuation instead of love, etc.If you like either Andrew McCarthy or Molly Ringwald then see this film as they shine.8/10.
As a student there in the late 1980s, I enjoyed watching the movie for a nostalgic look at the campus.
But the film shows the limitations of stars Andrew McCarthy and Molly Ringwald, and stands as evidence why the young stars were never able to find great success playing adult roles.
Ringwald also has a difficult time making the transition from sweet roles in films like Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles to the sexy temptress in Fresh Horses..
I saw this film when it was in the theatres many years ago and have not seen it since.I remember Molly Ringwald showing decent dramatic range as a very unsympathetic white trash girl.
Ben Stiller tries to warn McCarthy against Ringwald by pointing out that he needs a "fresh horse" not the true garbage of Ringwald.I remember liking the film and thinking that Molly Ringwald does an excellent job of playing such an undesirable person.
When i saw this film,i thought that it was boring and a waste of time to see.It's just one of the most dumbest love storys EVER.The only thing i liked about the Movie was the actor Doug Hutchison who plays Sproles.
I think the name of the movie has NOTHING to do with the story!.
to be brutally honest, i'm not particularly enthralled with any of the work ringwald has done, even her famous collaborations with john hughes; but i think they last because they're convincing, character-driven stories.
Maybe some says that 10 out 10 is exaggeration for this movie......but here what I think.The characters is simple......and the events runs smooth with the characters.
you can see this story in the real life, the flow of events are slow....but you can't stop watching or even go to the pathroom.I liked (Mate) very much....you can see this character all around you in the real life, so it was some thing we can touch in our lifes.
Jewel also was great.....mysterious....even didn't came out with a final judgment at the end of the moview.....some times it's the pretties and softest girl in the world....but ......some times she is pragmatic and following her benifit.The movie in general is sad.....but the nice thing its realistic.......the last scene....is very sad....a mix of deceive....unloyality......pragmatic....I was going to cry for him...the sorrow in his eyes........the stab in the back he had......and what the end of it....the life will go on.
he walks to disappear in the crowds as it saying that there is many folks have experienced this story......even you.If you haven't suffered from love you will not got the idea of this movie..
I would have to agree with some that this is not the best movie ever made, but for those of you that haven't taken the time to watch it, this film still has many very nice qualities to it.
If you can look past most reviews of this movie, and the fact that Ringwald and McCarthy were burdened by the Brat Pack title, you can still enjoy this movie.
I feel that Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy might have been looked down on from the start of this movie simply because it was a departure from the type movies and characters they had played so far.
and Andrew McCarthy parked in the exact spot where my client had gotten the ticket.Anyway, the movie is OK if you want a somewhat depressing John Hughes film.
Perhaps it was the desire to recreate something via casting decisions with the Pretty in Pink duo, McCarthy and Ringwald re-teaming for similar roles, or just in the failure of this particular play to translate so neatly to film, but something was missing that makes Fresh Horses instantly forgettable.McCarthy never seems to offer much emotion, even in the roles intended to be more romantic.
Here, he plays Matt Larkin, the college preppy who breaks off his engagement when he falls for the mostly unsympathetic Jewel (Ringwald, written to be an almost complete dimwit), a girl who is essentially his opposite and fits the "broken home" stereotype that he feels obliged to rescue.
Of course, despite urgings from his best friend Tipton (Ben Stiller in a role probably better suited for Paul Rieser) to quit playing it safe all the time and live a little, his friends are suspicious of Matt's new love interest.The movie might disappoint those looking for something similar to McCarthy and Ringwald's previous romantic pairing in Pretty in Pink, since there is so little sincerity and direction.
And, neither of the leads are particularly likable - from beginning to end, Matt can't seem to decide for himself what he wants or has the guts to act on it; and Ringwald's character, too, is at times so ignorant and so shady.
It doesn't exactly make for a particularly interesting love story..
maybe this is because the two leads are cast almost against type, or rather as parodies of their type in other brat pack movies.Yes they are troubled, as in their brat pack roles, but here neither is presented entirely sympathetically and their troubles are not successfully resolved.the film is an unnerving take on the familiar themes of 'pretty in pink' etc.
It seems to me that the movie focuses upon a short time in two young peoples lives and that moment is significant to each for different reasons.
Essentially, mccarthy and ringwald throughout the movie have every reason not to be together, they differ in every respect, and eventually these reasons do separate them, but this sensation of what if?
I think the movie perfectly describes the conflict between will and desire, and leaves the characters, well at least mccarthy, unsatisfied at the end - knowing that he has failed in some way.
When I see the same movie retreading the same ground that so many have gone over in mostly unsuccessful movies, you bet.Andrew McCarthy Plays Matt, a rich kid who is about to marry a crushing bore for no other reason than to make some money for the family.
While settling into this idea he meets Jewel (Molly Ringwald), a poor-white-trash country girl with a modest southern twang and enough domestic problems to land her on a week's worth of guest shots on Jerry Springer.In the right roles, I like Molly Ringwald but here she plays a country gal so wounded that I didn't want her to get married as much I wanted to see her get some therapy.
McCarthy, who has a kind face and never seems to rush any performance runs the gamut of expressions from A to B, but that's not his fault, the movie doesn't give him much to work with.
I liked both of them in 'Pretty in Pink' because the screenplay gave three dimensional characters and a story that was worth their time (and ours).
Even Ringwald's red puffy lips look pale.Will Michael give up his shot at marrying the bore and lose his money, his friends and their respect.
The title is derived from a line in the movie relating to getting a fresh horse under you when the one you are riding is worn out.
It is a reference to getting a new girlfriend when you get tired of the one you have been with.Andrew McCarthy is 20-something Engineering student Matt Larkin in Cincinnatti.
There Matt encounters Molly Ringwald as Jewel, an intelligent but undereducated young lady who tells him she is 20, but some rumors later say she is only 16.
Matt has an instant attraction to Jewel.I believe this movie was billed as a followup to "Pretty in Pink", a 1986 movie with the two main actors here.
Both McCarthy and Ringwall impress me more than I thought they would, each created good characters in what turned out to be, for me, a rather ordinary movie.Viggo Mortensen, already about 30, has a small but important role as Green.SPOILERS.
Meeting Jewel made Matt realize that he didn't really want to marry the girl he was with, and she did not take the breakup very well.