Daydream Believer

Australian schoolgirl Nell (Otto) thinks she is a horse, whinnying her way through conflict until a shrink tells her that 'deep down in all of us, there lurks an animal'. Flash forward. Now an adult, she trades hay for acting and self-help, still communing with horses but reverting to their lingo only during moments of acute stress. There's plenty of that about after she drives into the flash sports-car belonging to Digby (Kemp), one-time London orphan turned wealthy theatrical producer/horse-breeder, who juggles attempts to raise backing for a musical with efforts to find a stallion to impregnate his prize mare. This is where Nell comes in handy: can she get the name of the mare's mate during a session of horse-talk? An involving premise, which sees parental abuse giving rise to Nell's escapism, is wasted on a ludicrous romantic comedy full of signposted jokes and pratfalls.