The Book Wins By A Mile

Rating: 6/10 (13 August 2003)

The experience of reading Laura Hillenbrand's SEABISCUIT is one of those rare instances where the right author and subject converge to give the mass readership an unforgettable interpretation of a famous historical character and the events that surrounded his life. The fact that the main protagonist is a diminutive Thoroughbred race horse whose nascent racing career was nearly ended by trainers who misunderstood the beast, and the resulting triumph of that beleaguered animal and his human cohorts who brought him to glory makes this Depression Era Saga all the more compelling. Hillenbrand's great narrative gift was to immerse the reader in another time and place, in this case the gritty, vivid world of America's Depression years. Spanning the entire decade of the 1930's, this true tale of a "little horse that could" becomes much more than just another horse story.
SEABISCUIT is really an Epic, covering the sweeping changes in the transportation industry as well as the dramatic events that shaped the first half of the Twentieth Century in America. How those industrial changes and social events are tied to the main characters in Hillenbrand's story makes for indelible reading.
SEABISCUIT has a narrative drive and epic sweep not unlike Margaret Mitchell's GONE WITH THE WIND.
In transferring this modern American Classic to the to the screen, director Gary Ross took on a daunting task. As Hillenbrand wrote it, the book covers an awful lot of ground. It starts with a young man on a train trip West with 21 cents in his pocket and ends 44 years later in the high country of California. It is peopled with unforgettable characters: Charles Howard , a former bicycle repair man who became an enormously wealthy automobile dealer ; his beloved second wife, Marcela, who turned Howard's life around after a family tragedy and became a savvy business partner in her own right ; Red Pollard, a down and out jockey who traveled the amateur racing circuit looking for his big break ; Tom Smith, a taciturn, tight-lipped horse trainer who had a secret communication with the equine world ; and George Woolf, the colorful, dashing jockey who raced into the History Books
The movie of SEABISCUIT is a horse of a very different color. Director Garry Ross has made a staid and stately film of Hillenbrand's book. Technically the movie is very impressive, with its beautifully composed panoramic shots, authentic sets and costumes. The acting by the main principals is hard to fault. Tobey Maguire, a master of understatement, does some real stretching here ; his Red Pollard is a scrappy, moving performance. Chris Cooper offers a more amiable take on the Tom Smith character.
Jeff Bridges plays Charles Howard with a sad eyed countenance. As for Seabiscuit , whatever alchemy created this equine character for the screen, it's a great portrayal. The nag is captured in all his moods, from stubborn and rebellious to cunning and victorious. Unfortunately, Ross's film is terribly disappointing. As impressive as the picture is in its physical recreation of the times, it trips up in what should be its most important element : the screenplay. The dialog spoken by the main characters is reduced to cliché ridden bromides. It's understandable that certain dramatic licenses are taken to make a filmed story work dramatically, but in this case there doesn't seem to be the "ring of truth' to the verbal exchanges. As a result it undermines the movie's authenticity and what emerges is a larger than life historical pageant that only occasionally moves and thrills. Nevertheless, SEABISCUIT does offer a glimpse into the American Past. It's an earnest and honorable effort but It's no substitute for Laura Hillenbrand's saga, a story teeming with the sights and sounds of The Depression and Thoroughbrd Racing on every page. And that is the great difference. The movie has no life of its own.