Sorry that this is a criticism - could have been brilliant.

Rating: Null/10 (9 November 2003)

I was itching to see this film because I love racing and also this period of US history but it should have been better. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to racing fans but Gary Ross could have done a far better job, he had so much to work with. The horse was far tougher than the film shows. Seabiscuit set 13 course records on eight separate tracks over six different distances, those achievements are a gift for a movie maker and Ross did not exploit them enough. The horse was an icon of his era. There is always a danger when making films about animals that they become too sentimental or really 'cheesy', happily Ross just about avoided this although some of the humour was a bit banal. Seabiscuit was a horse that the public adored, he was like a horsey equivalent of David Beckham and again the movie did not show this. Toby Maguire is not strong enough in the role of Red Plummer, he appeared to be holding back something. This talented young actor was wasted. I thought Chris Cooper would have had a more dominant role as the trainer and yet again he too was not given enough to do with the part. Jeff Bridges was solid as always and was the least disappointing and most plausible of the human protagonists. The best part of the film without doubt are the excellent racing scenes, very well handled by Chris McCarron and Rusty Hendrickson the horse wrangler. These are as realistic as they can get and that pleased me because I felt racing people would have appreciated the care that was taken in producing such well orchestrated scenes. Go see the film, you will enjoy it but like me you will probably feel that it falls short of being a great movie, such a pity because Ross had it all there for him to put together, particularly as it is a true story. In fairness people who rarely go to the cinema but love racing will thoroughly enjoy it, but if your are like me and a bit of a purist at heart where movies are concerned there is much to criticise. Perhaps I see too many films and am being unkind or ultra fussy. I feel that all concerned wasted a wonderful opportunity to score a massive hit. This is not worthy of Oscars which is sad because for once it would be great for a real family film to scoop the awards.That said, it will do better in USA than UK because the horse was American and means so much more to the American people.