Wonderful

Rating: 10/10 (28 July 2003)

Some of the criticism I have heard directed at this movie centers around a couple of issues; not as good as the movie, too long, should have been better, mixing of documentary style with film does not work. Well, for me that is what made this movie as close to perfect as I have seen in a long time. Now granted, surrounded by the bloated, stinking, yellow teeth competition this summer has had to offer, Seabuiscuit may seem better then it is just because it tries to entertain. The rest of the movies out there this year seem to be almost laughing at you for 2 hours for spending your money. But I contend that even in a year where film after film raised the level cinema as we know it, this movie would be right up there with them. First, the length. By my last check, which was last night, I spend now almost $10 to see a movie and subsequently pay Julia Roberts $20 million per film to play the same, flighty, annoyingly stupid person she appears to be in real life. Money well spent. So if I am going to spend that kind of money, I want it to be worth it. Seabuscuit is worth it. The first 45 minutes is horse free, which seems strange considering the movie is based on the animal. However, without that setup the movie would never work. You have to care about these characters, hope that they win, hope that they make it out of the hell they are currently under, and root for them the entire time you are staring at the screen. You have to see them go through the hard times so that when the good times come, you are happy for them. The greatest failure a movie can make is to create characters no one cares about, or cast Kevin Costner. Either one is death. Its not as good as the book. Well, I have not read the book, but I am sure this is true. Books are ALWAYS better because a writer has an almost infinite amount of space to work with. As far as Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit, she had 448 pages to work with to tell the WHOLE story. A movie cannot do that. They have to stay true to the tone or message of the book rather then to every detail of it. In this case, the message stays true to heart. Three men, beaten, battered, almost destroyed, find a horse with similar life qualities and together they come alive again. They become a part of society again, and as they become uplifted by this beaten animal, so too does the rest of a tired country, if only for a moment. The message is not lost. The intermingling of documentary style film with the cinematic movie. I personally loved this. I thought it was somewhat unneccessary during the War Admiral, Seabiscuit match race but even there it was done nicely and still recovered quick enough to account for one of the truly touching moments of the film. Besides that, I LOVE David McCollough, who narrates this film. He is not only one of my favorite historians, he is also one of my favorite narrators. His voice just makes you take things seriously. And being a history geek, the ken Burns like interludes are wonderful for adding to the atmosphere of the picture. I loved it.
So, for me, this film worked on every level. The acting is incredible all the way around, and Oscars should be handed out to either MGuire or Bridges who are incredible. Cooper is great as well, playing a horse lover who has a knack for helping the less then perfect animals. To me, this is everything movies should be. Beautiful to look at, beautiful to listen to, and just a pleasure to watch. I hope Hollywood takes a cue from this movie and makes more like them. Movies that uplift, that inject a sense of pleasure in ones heart and make you feel like you $10 were well spent. Few films over the last several years have evoked that type of emotion.