Good entertainment, even with the schmaltz

Rating: 8/10 (6 February 2004)

Seabiscuit is a tale not only of a champion horse once deemed unfit for racing, but of three people (owner, trainer, and jockey) who were once marked marked as failures in their own right. Fighting various adversities, and leaning upon one another, they come through and win in the end.
It's a fine movie. It doesn't take any great leaps into the soul of humanity, it doesn't have any far-reaching ideas to propagate to the masses, it doesn't investigate the meaning of the universe. It is a simple story with simple messages of "never giving up." It's not especially challenging but it's good.
I think the only thing I disliked about the film was the syrupy film score. We've all heard it before, the same musical cues to denote sadness or victory or suspense or joy. Sound tracks like this one have become cliches and IMHO worsen the film by taking away any sense of mystery of what happens next. "Oooh, the strings are high, we're all supposed to tense up now." Yawn.