But then came the interminable War of the Worlds, Steven Spielberg’s miscue of a summer movie in which she unfortunately embodied the shrill, shrieking daughter of Tom Cruise’s everyman character. After that dreadful movie-going experience, I wouldn’t have cared if I didn’t see another Dakota Fanning film.

But here comes Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story, a well-intentioned family film about a crippled racehorse nursed back to health by a young girl and her horse trainer father (Kurt Russell). Now, once more, I can say I’m a Dakota Fanning fan… and all is right with the world.

Very loosely based on the tale of a real-life Breeder’s Cup mare, Dreamer follows dedicated but cash-strapped horse trainer Ben Crane (Russell), who is preparing a young filly, Sonador, for future, big-time success for his smug boss, Palmer (David Morse). But after the horse suffers a broken leg in a race and is deemed for the scrap heap by Palmer, Crane stands up to his bullying boss and takes ownership of the horse.

Meanwhile, Crane’s daughter, Cale (Fanning), who idolizes her father and yearns to learn more about what he does, grows attached to the farm’s new addition and becomes key in nursing the horse back to health. As her bond with the horse grows, so does her dream of breathing life back into her father’s farm as well as his strained relationship with his crusty father (Kris Kristofferson). Together, they all strive to achieve an impossible dream: bring Sonador back to full health and enable her to run in the Breeder’s Cup.

Dreamer, which is rated PG for brief, mild language and has been among the top five films in the country over the last several weeks, doesn’t exactly re-invent the wheel. It follows many of the conventions of the “boy-and-his-dog” genre (of course, here, it’s “girl-and-her-horse,” but you get the idea) of what used to be a tried and true formula among big-screen movies (especially Disney movies, but this one is from DreamWorks Pictures). But what writer-director John Gatins has going for him is not only a winning performance from Fanning (who re-establishes herself as one of the most talented and reliable young actresses we’ve seen since perhaps Jodie Foster), but sure-footed, solid and often moving work from Russell.

In fact, as father and daughter, these two elevate Dreamer beyond the words in its screenplay. Their believable bond — not only between their characters, but with the supporting cast and indeed the horse itself — serves as the glue (pardon the phrase) that helps this film solidify into something more than just a serviceable yarn, but an enjoyable family picture.