Inspiring story about the little guy that could

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2003)

When it comes to sports themed movies, there are more strikeouts than touchdowns. For every Field of Dreams, there is a Major League; for every Brian's Song, there is an Unnecessary Roughness; and for every Slap Shot, there is a Slap Shot II. So when Director Gary Ross (Pleasantville) seeked $80 million plus to bring the true story of a race horse in the 1930's to the big screen, studio execs must have been squirming in their seats like a Buffalo Bills fan before the SuperBowl. There was some comfort to be taken in the casting of Toby McGuire (hot off his Spider-man) role and Chris Cooper, who nabbed an Academy Award for his role in last year's Adaptation, playing both jockey Red Pollard and horse trainer Tom Smith, respectively, but would a mass audience have a desire to see a story about a Depression era horse? The answer is a simply, yes.
Seabiscuit is one of those rare films that tells a remarkable story of achievement against the odds and does so with precision writing, extraordinary camera work and just the right dose of character quirkiness and humor to keep the audience rooting for the underdog.
Seabiscuit begins with the obligatory introduction of characters. Red is introduced as a hotheaded young man who has a knack with race horses, but as jockey's go, he is probably about 2-feet too tall for the job. Tom Smith is a countryman who has a sheer admiration for animals, and soon, both men meet stoic Charles Howard (played wonderfully by Jeff Bridges), who buys the underachieving horse Seabiscuit and employs the help of Red and Tom in efforts to turn the horse into a competitor. And boy, do they ever!
It doesn't take long before Seabiscuit is setting records at the local racing track and seeing the marketing possibilities, the ever-opportunist Charles Howard sets his sights on a race with the Triple Crown winner in eastern America named War Admiral. After repeated dismisses, the owners of War Admiral finally agree to a match race on their terms, but a freak accident breaking the leg of Red Pollard leaves the race in jeopardy. But as if Red knew that someday a movie would be made of his achievements and life decisions, Pollard requests that the race proceed with an adversary jockey at the reins, and history was now in the making.
Seabiscuit is one of those unique sports themed, character driven movies that really works, and can be appreciated by anyone - even those that know nothing of the sport or have never attended a race. Director Gary Ross keeps things simple and uses constant voice-overs to keep the audience in tune with what was happening in the world around them at the time of Seabiscuits rise to stardom. The camera work during the individual races scenes are astounding and audiences will feel like they are on the track with the jockey's racing Seabiscuit to the finish line.
But what is most surprising about the film is that the horse is really a secondary character. Seabiscuit is filled with warm and rich performances from everyone involved, most notably the supporting turn for William H. Macy who plays Tick Tock McLaughlin, the host of the racing journal. Macy's character brings great laughter and energy, and it is in excellent contrast to Jeff Bridges' character that is more mature and in constant mourning over the death of his young son years earlier.
With the screenplay also written by Gary Ross, he had an incredible story to work with. There is the loss of a child, the revelation that Red is actually blind in one eye, the triumphant victory at Pimlico, and the subsequent injury and return to glory for America's favorite horse and jockey, all packed neatly in under two hours.
Seabiscuit captivated audiences in the summer of 2003 for the tune of a $120 million domestic gross. Surrounded by loud over-bearing summer entries, people clamored to see a move about a horse that was too small, a jockey that was too big, a trainer that was too old and an owner that was too dumb to know the difference. Big thumbs up.