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Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges) is an
automobile tycoon who, due to an unfortunate family tragedy, becomes
involved in the horse racing business as both an owner and a breeder. He
soon recruits a homeless cowboy (Chris Cooper) who has an uncanny
ability to seemingly communicate with horses and a horse jockey (Toby
Maguire) who's built-up anger over his parent's decision to abandon him
nearly destroys him. The three destitute men recruit one destitute horse
named Seabiscuit, a perennial loser on the horse-racing circuit, and
soon the four men (well, three men and one horse) are writing one of the
great underdog stories in American history. The horse, who at one time
would come in last place in a one-horse race, was taking on all comers
leading up to a climatic showdown with Triple Crown winner War Admiral.
America came to a standstill on the day this race was run.
Seabiscuit is one of the summer's refreshing movies. An inspirational
underdog story with no foul language, no gratuitous violence, some
outstanding acting, exceptional camera work and emotions at all ends of
the spectrum. Jeff Bridges is excellent. Tobey Maguire as Red Pollard is
equal to Bridges. William H. Macy as Tick Tock McGlaughlin is as comical
as the character's name. And Chris Cooper is simply outstanding as the
much more subtly named Tom Smith. Mr. Smith should have been given a
nickname on par with Tick Tock. We learn things about horse racing that
many of us are sure not to know. The training that is required, the
tenseness between the jockeys on the horse track and we learn about a
horse that many of us have probably never known. Seabiscuit was the
number one newsmaker in 1938 - ahead of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Adolf
Hitler. I did not know that either. A nation crippled by the Depression
needed something to believe. Seabiscuit was that something they
believed.
Seabiscuit is a really good movie. I liked it a lot. I did not
absolutely love it like many people have said they did. The audience
gave it a standing ovation in the theatre in which I saw the movie. I
thought at times the movie dragged a bit. The horse-racing scenes were intensely
outstanding. It is long movie, well over two hours. But it is more than
two hours of inspirational story-telling that will leave you wanting to
go to the racetrack and lay a few bucks on the biggest underdog in the
whole damn racetrack.
 
- 7/10
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Brendan Cullin - Senior Editor
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