Oh Seabiscuit was a racehorse...

Rating: Null/10 (6 December 2003)

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs
Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges) is a car repairman in late 1920s America.One day,a customer brings him a car that repairing presents quite a challenge.However,he has a bash and,after much struggling,finds a solution that,in turn,gives him an idea for his own model of car.Before long,he has left his existence as a humble mechanic and become a renowned car salesman,as well as the boss of his own company.From afar,a mysterious stranger named Tom Smith (Chris Cooper),who will come to have greater significance later on in the story,witnesses the takeover of the industrial revolution and how the car takes over the position that was previously held by his beloved horse.
Charles is successful for a good while,until the great depression and a personal tragedy destroy his life.After the break-up of his marriage,he relocates and with his position in high society still pretty prominent,spots his eye on a promising race horse,the titular Seabiscuit.He comes in to contact with Chris for the first time,who agrees to train him and finds a potential rider in the shape of Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire) a down-on-his-luck stable jockey who's tried his hand unsuccessfully at things like boxing.Together,these three men (and their horse) come together to transform not only their own lives,but to lift the spirit of the depression-riddled nation.
This is a pleasant,endearing enough film for the whole family,if somewhat overlong and with an inconsistent,wasted use of William H Macy as a zany,wise-cracking radio personality.***