The Natural

Rating: Null/10 (29 July 2003)

SEABISCUIT (2003) ***1/2 Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, William H. Macy, Eddie Jones, Ed Lauter, Gary Stevens, (Narrator: David McCullough). Excellent adaptation of Laura Hillenbrand's best seller about the Depression era racehorse legend by filmmaker Gary Ross embodies the era's hopes and dreams on a dark horse' of a contender in the sport focusing on three disparate (and desperate) men who found themselves (and saved one another) from one form of self-destruction or another: Maguire as the beleaguered jockey Red Pollard facing emotional and physical demons champions the film at redemption as does Bridges as the nag's owner Charles Howard, a self-made business success who more-or-less adopts Pollard after the tragic loss of his young son and finally Cooper as the aging cowpoke/trainer/horse whisperer who finds the true beauty in the beast (and perhaps a final moment of glory). The stuff dreams are made of and the fact that it's all based on fact only makes it more unbelievable. One of the year's best films.