Seabiscuit Movie Review:


An American racing legend comes to the screen in a moving portrayal of redemption in the new film “Seabiscuit” from writer director Gary Ross. Based on a true story and novel by Laura Hillenbrand, the film tells the story of Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges), a bicycle maker who becomes a millionaire thanks to a chance meeting and his belief that cars are the future in the early 1900’s.

Years later following a personnel upheaval Howard is taken by his friends to Mexico to recover as gambling and alcohol have become illegal in Prohibition America. It is here that Howard meets three people who will have a dramatic effect on his life. There is his future wife Annie (Valerie Mahaffey), Tom Smith (Chris Cooper), a trainer with a heart of gold, and Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire), a frisky jockey who was abandoned by his parents and who supplements his income by street brawling.

With the nation suffering under The Great Depression and Stock Market Crash, Howard casts his lot in horse racing and based upon the advice of Tom, he purchases a feisty yet undersized horse named Seabiscuit. The horse is from a good pedigree but his size, behavior, and lack of competitive instinct have made him unsuitable to race according to most in the business. Tom believes that given a chance, the horse can be a winner and sets about training Red and Seabiscuit for racing.

The horse bonds with Red and Tom and soon runs of a series of victories on the California racing scene gaining national attention in the process. Howard is a master of publicity and issues a series of challenges to the current Triple Crown winner War Admiral who is seen by many as the perfect and unbeatable horse. The challenge goes unanswered until the persistence of Howard pays off and the race of a lifetime is organized. While most films may use this race as the climax, it is used instead to set up a very emotional and inspirational final segment of the film. Bridges gives a fantastic performance that is Oscar worthy. I saw echoes of Bridges great work in the largely overlooked “Tucker: The Man and His Dream”, and he surpasses it in this film. Maguire is very strong and proves that he is able to hold his own against the best Hollywood can offer and is one of the best young talents in Hollywood.

I can easily see this film garnering several award nominations, as it is a very well crafted film that had people at my screener cheering. Easily one of the best films of the year and a serious Oscar contender, see this movie.

5 stars out of 5

Gareth Von Kallenbach

Based on Laura Hillenbrand’s best-selling novel, Seabiscuit is a beautifully spirited film of finding one’s self by overcoming adversity.

Written for the screen and directed by Gary Ross, the film is based on the true story of three men and one horse, Seabiscuit, which gave America something to cheer about during the harsh times of the 1930’s Great Depression. Ross occasionally intertwines the film with black & white stills of the depression along with informational passages from the book being read by historian David McCullough. After opening the film with one of these narrated still sequences, Ross takes his time introducing the film’s three men and Seabiscuit. Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire) is the young, but too tall horse jockey, Tom Smith (Chris Cooper) is the wise cowboy trainer, and Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges) is the once rich businessman that owns the horse. Speaking of the Seabiscuit, the horse is wobbly legged and a receiver of scrutiny for being too small to race. The underdog horse with the guidance of the three men suddenly bursts onto the racing scene from nowhere to become the popular story in America. Included in the close media coverage of Seabiscuit’s rapid success is Tick-Tock McGlaughlin (William H. Macy), who is a humorous radio track reporter. Though there are many bumps and bruises along the way for all of the characters, their story is inspiring.

This is a great piece of rooting for the underdog, or going against all odds. Seabiscuit is sort of like the Rocky (1976) or Rudy (1993) of horse racing, and it is in fact a true story. Ross’ pacing in the film is very slow, especially in the first half of the film. However, once Seabiscuit arrives into the story, the character’s relationships build and the film really takes flight. The photography and scenery are brilliant and the race scenes are thrilling. Ross adds balanced humor to the film, in which if there were no humor in this film, the melodrama would sink the audience.

Each character has their own quirks and become acquaintable. Ross also captures some of the best visual scenes of the summer with each one of the characters. An example is the trainer Tom Smith’s moment of realization of his world changing when he approaches a barb-wired fence in the beginning of the film. Though Ross takes his time with the first half of this film, his work with Seabiscuit is exquisite and admirable.

The performances in the film are genuine and likeable as well. Tobey Maguire continues to deliver the goods as the jockey Red Pollard, though his performance is nowhere near his best work. Jeff Bridges is a perfect cast as Seabiscuit’s owner Charles Howard. Chris Cooper proves once again that he can tackle any character with his subtle, but great performance as the “horse whisperer” type of trainer Tom Smith. William H. Macy brings some laughter to the film as the inventive radio track reporter Tick-Tock McGlaughlin.

Seabiscuit is a true inspiring tale about rooting for the underdog. This film is very dramatic, very lengthy, and just good. In the film, the characters utter the lines like, “You don’t throw a whole life away just cause its banged up a little,” and “Everybody loses a couple, you either pack up and go home, or you keep fighting.” These lines sum up some of the spirit of this film, Seabiscuit is one of the better movies of the summer.

Grade: B

07/25/03
by Joseph Tucker

While Americana has always been his stock in trade (see also Big, Dave, Pleasantville), writer-director Ross bumps himself up a notch with this heartwarming true story from the late 1930s, put on screen with a sweeping-epic feel. It's a real crowd-pleaser ... and probably an Academy-pleaser as well!

There are four main characters, all shattered by life but fighting back when given another chance to prove themselves. Red Pollard (Maguire) has a huge chip on his shoulder after being sold to a horse trainer (Bottoms) by his desperate parents during the Great Depression. Even though he's far too tall, he has a way with the horses. Charles Howard (Bridges) is an inventive entrepreneur, heading West to make his fortune and becoming very wealthy through sheer tenacity. But a deep personal loss is far worse than the Crash of '29, and he puts his energies into managing a racehorse with his young wife Marcela (Banks). Tom Smith (Cooper) is a grizzled Wild West has-been, still harking back to natural, earthy methods of horse-training and unable to get a job until Howard spots his talent. And last but certainly not least, Seabiscuit is a desperate loser of a racehorse. He has the pedigree, but he looks ridiculous--no style, too short, too many injuries. Still, Smith spots the spirit in his eyes, Pollard bonds with him deeply and Howard makes sure he becomes one of the most unlikely sporting heroes in American history.

This real story is almost unbelievably cinematic with its underdogs triumphing against adversity and expectations over and over again. And Ross cleverly applies a vintage style to the film, complete with newsreel narration (voiced by David McCullogh) and a bright spark of comic relief in radio journalist Tick Tock McGlauchlin (Macy). But the stroke of genius is to include Seabiscuit as a real character, drawing out his personality and making his story the central current in a film about four losers who triumph over some sort of disability. Yes, it's sentimental and sweet--sometimes overwhelmingly so--but it's also gripping and stunningly well made, with a fantastic collection of Oscar-calibre performances from Maguire, Bridges, Cooper and Macy (while very good, Banks is the only off note, because her character appears to be Mexican and yet she so isn't!). These are all characters we can identify with, right up to the insanely amazing comeback we all long for.

Rich Cline

Gripped by the great depression, 1930s America didn’t have much to celebrate. Charles Howard (Bridges) had tragically lost his son and was still struggling to contain his grief, Tom Smith (Cooper) was a part of a dying breed, the Cowboy with no plains to drift and Red Pollard (Maguire) was a down on his luck jockey, who had to supplement his meagre income with unlicensed boxing. This all changed when Howard bought a racehorse that every trainer said had had its day. But Seabiscuit wasn’t a quitter and as the three saw this horse grow into a champion, them and the downtrodden public as last had a success story to pull them out of the doldrums.

Once in a while a movie comes along that you just can’t help liking, Seabiscuit is just that movie.

Based on the novel by Laura Hillenbrand and brought to the screen by screenwriter/director Gary Ross, this is the quintessential feel good movie. Told with historical references to the time, voiced over by the three protagonists, the story tells the true-life escapades of a track legend that would give hope back to not only the three people involved but also a nation in the grip of financial and emotional depression. Seabiscuit’s rise from no-hoper to horseracing legend would symbolise the era and ignite the belief and passion demoralised public.

The performances from the three main leads are superb. Tobey Maguire shows again that he is becoming a very accomplished actor. Working again with Gary Ross, after working on Ross’s debut feature Pleasantville, the director brings out another fine performance from the rising star whose superstardom was always hinted at, even in his early career. Chris Cooper gives another assured performance as aging Cowboy Tom Smith. He captures the essence of the man whose world was disappearing but his principles and believes would always ring true. Jeff Bridges is back on top form as the overly enthusiastic Charles Howard, the millionaire car dealer who handles the promotion of Seabiscuit like he is selling you the latest Buick.

The supporting cast are also good. US jockey legend Gary Stevens makes an excellent debut as George Wolf, you would never guess that he hasn’t graced the sliver screen before. Elizabeth Banks is very good as Howard’s second wife Marcela, proving that she could be a young actress to watch. It is William H. Macy that almost steals the show as local race announcer Tick Tock McGlaughlin. His sheer energy and comedic timing are evident in spades, providing a sprinkling laughter throughout the movie.

Director Gary Ross does an excellent job as transferring what it feels like to be in the heart of a horse race. The sport of kings is brilliantly recreated, drawing you into the thick of the action as you travel along with Red and Seabiscuit. By getting the camera in extremely close to the horses, you witness the sheer hectic speed of the sport and the exhilaration of the win.

It is the uplifting story that is the films tour-de-force. The movie is filled with the feel good factor. You just can’t help but get involved with these characters as you watch them go through an emotional roller coaster ride and feel elated when they triumph and devastated when they fall. I would have like to have known more about what happened after the events of the movie but this does nothing to distract you from the sheer enjoyment and uplifting feeling you get from watching this movie.

I’d place a bet that this is going to do really well.

Star Rating = * * * *

Jamie Kelwick

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