An Epic Sports Figure Story

Rating: 10/10 (14 October 2012)

For his sophomore effort, director Gary Ross re-teams with Tobey Maguire and William H. Macy, stars of his directorial debut Pleasantville, for this sports drama about the legendary racehorse, Seabiscuit. Unlike 1949's fictionalized The Story of Seabiscuit starring Shirley Temple, this version attempts to present a factual account of the story, which centers around the three men who saw the famed horse to victory.This biographical sports drama film based on the best-selling non-fiction book Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand. The film is loosely based on the life and racing career of Seabiscuit, an undersized and overlooked thoroughbred race horse, whose unexpected successes made him a hugely popular media sensation in the United States during the Great Depression.Jeff Bridges,Chris Cooper and Elizabeth Banks co-star to play key supporting roles.
Charles Howard is an entrepreneur who owns the unlikely racehorse. Howard teams with partially blind boxer-turned-jockey Red Pollard and horse trainer Tom Smith. Together, the three work to help the famed horse to several symbolic victories that helped to inspire a downtrodden 1930s America.
It's inspiring despite a sobering thesis: The future is intoxicating, but progress is a kind way of rendering someone's livelihood obsolete. Gary Ross probed the underdog principle's heart: Success outside the comfort zone is the sweetest of all.It may not be a work of great art but it tells its solid story with grace and dignity.And most of all,this is a great story of American entrepreneurship, optimism, and resilience.It definitely is an epic treatment of a spirit-lifting figure in sports history.