Woe to the filmmaker who messes up a beloved bestseller or classic piece of literature, but praised be he who actually manages to improve on the source material.

This year we've already seen the contemporized dumbing-down of Dickens' "Great Expectations" and a Reader's Digest version of "Les Miserables." And now Robert Redford has taken his crack at Nicholas Evans' much-adored

novel "The Horse Whisperer."

And what do you know? He's managed to make the story better — much better in places — by reworking some of the book's more troubling situations and clarifying some of its character motivations.

That's not to say that this beautiful-looking and emotionally absorbing drama is drastically different from the book. In fact, for the most part Redford and screenwriters Richard LaGravenese and Eric Roth keep the story intact. But even the novel's most ardent fans recognize its obvious problems, many of which have been corrected cinematically.

For instance, in the book an adulterous love affair between a horse trainer and the married woman who hires him comes to dominate things. In the film, the relationship between the two is still key, but other interesting story elements are given prominence as well.

As good a mainstream American film as we've had in the past couple of years, "The Horse Whisperer" also benefits from the presence of two extremely charismatic leads.

In addition to his directing duties, Redford also stars as the title character — Tom Booker — who is hired to rehabilitate Pilgrim, a horse that has been injured in a horrible accident, which also caused his rider, 14-year-old Grace MacLean (relative newcomer Scarlett Johansson), to lose part of her leg.

Pilgrim's owner, fashion magazine editor Annie MacLean (Kristin Scott Thomas, of "The English Patient"), travels from New York to Tom's Montana ranch with Pilgrim and Grace in tow — and none of the three seems happy to be there.

However, under Tom's care and guidance both the horse and the young amputee gradually regain their confidence in the months that follow. And the soft-spoken horseman also works his magic on high-strung, control-freak Annie, who winds up falling for him and his gentle way of life.

There's one big obstacle in the way of their love, though, Annie's husband Robert (Sam Neill), who shows up in Montana, forcing her to decide between love and a much safer future.

To their credit, Redford and the scripters don't try to make Robert a villain. Instead, as played by Neill, he's a nice guy who loves his wife and daughter. That makes Annie's decision even more difficult, both for the character and the audience.