Team of four

Rating: Null/10 (6 August 2003)

Spoilers
Sorry duplicate bridge enthusiasts, this is not your kind of tournament. It's rather about a team that makes horse racing into a dream. I know the movie is fact based and also adapted from a best seller, but I'm going to confine myself to only what the movie shows.
The first member of the team is the horse with the title role, one abandoned for a loser until its potentials are recognized by the other three members, each of whom has his own story.
Of the trainer (Chris Cooper) we know little about, but all we need to know is that his profession is his whole life. A loner, always cool and absolutely focused on what he is doing, he is however not without his human side. Angry with the jockey for not revealing his handicap of one blind eye, he nevertheless yields readily to the owner's appeal to his good nature.
The jockey (Tobey Maguire) suffers a drastic plunge in fortune as his affluent family is financially wiped out by the Great Depression. Separated from his loving and understanding parents, he goes through a few very rough years until both trainer and owner see in him the same talent his parents saw.
The owner (Jeff Bridges) has everything financial success can bring, but lost his most beloved son in an accident and his wife in a subsequent divorce. Remarriage to a wonderful second wife and discovery of Seabiscuit brings back his zest for life.
These four members of this team are drawn together by their mutual recognition of each other's potentials and when they finally converge, we have a most uplifting story.
There is no shooting or explosion, no fancy action and not even one swear word. Oh yes, there is something you might call a sex scene. What it really does is only to reveal that the jockey is blind in one eye, and he gives the prostitute more respect than he might have given to his grade school teacher!
What is most significant, however, is that there is no villain. The conflict is against what can be broadly called `destiny': unexpected misfortunes and accidents, as well as fair competition by and large. I for one think that this is wonderful and we should have more movies like this.
The music is effective and in right proportions. The cinematography is equally winning. I'm particularly impressed with splendor of the opening scene with Chris Cooper riding in the big country and really glad that I saw it on one of the gigantic `Silver Screens' in Toronto.