Goes the distance and then some...

Rating: 8/10 (27 July 2003)

Like most screenplays adapted from a literary source, this one loses a little bit in the translation. It's very good on its own merits -- the acting, direction and cinematography are strong (Oscar buzz, Oscar buzz). It stumbles slightly out of the gate, so to speak, but catches up in time to deliver the big "winning" climax. Starts off with a quasi-documentary-style with narration by the always-soothing voice of David McCullough. The first hour concentrates on developing the three human factors in the story (Charles Howard, Tom Smith and "Red" Pollard") and the converging paths of their lives that bring them all to the little racehorse that could -- Seabiscuit. Those of us who have read the book know that getting that match race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral was not as simple as it is portrayed in the movie, but I can accept the condensation because the resulting race we get on film is well done. There are other things that weren't even touched upon in the film: In real life, for example, Seabiscuit almost always had to race with a tremendous weight handicap for such a small horse, especially considering he was already running with a fairly large jockey on his back. There's also some poetic license in the completely-fictional "Tick-Tock" McGlaughlin character, but again, I realize this was a necessary device to help the narrative move along smoothly. There is genuine emotion in many of the scenes and the racing sequences almost put you in the saddle. Tobey Maguire finally gets to play a grown-up. Chris Cooper does his usual best in character. Real-life jockey Gary Stevens is spot-on as George `Ice Man' Woolf. I recommend reading the book BEFORE seeing the film, but even if you don't, the film still works. If you've read the book, see this movie to give the story more life; if you haven't read the book - see this movie because it truly is a nice piece of filmmaking. And - compared to most of the other stuff out there this summer, it's actually worth the price of admission.