The little horse that could

Rating: 8/10 (12 February 2006)

What Seabiscuit doesn't fully achieve is give the topic of the movie a 100% credibility. This is something very common in Hollywood movies portraying a specific era or person. "A Beautiful Mind" or "Cinderella Man" anyone. But this is a minor problem, the movie as a whole is a solid accomplishment. It has a hell of a lot more virtues than debilities, the strongest of the former being the editing and storytelling. We are left to fill many pieces in for ourselves, always a sign of a smart movie that doesn't underestimate it's viewers, and the editing made sure that certain scenes stay in the viewer's head (a particular one being the first race Seabiscuit wins, or the very ending of the movie). The ensemble of actors works great and even Tobey Maguire (whom I usually find unsatisfactory given his abilities of emotional span) shines. Overall apart from being too much of a crowd pleaser this movie will stick around for a long time as being a beautiful addition in movie-making.
8/10
Recommendations: everybody!