An Attempt At Instant Classic Status

Rating: 6/10 (27 June 2004)

The first third of `Seabiscuit' is quite good--though writer/director Gary Ross' cops Ken Burns' documentarian style to illustrate the deadening despair of the Depression (he even appropriates historian/PBS host David McCullogh for narration)--with an earnest attempt at creating an interpersonal family drama between father-figure horse owner Jeff Bridges and tempestuous surrogate-son jockey Tobey Maguire. But then Seabiscuit appears and the film loses whatever momentum that's been generated. Starting out as a perceived underachiever, the horse's personality quickly evaporates as Ross insists on building it into some sort of crowning symbol of hope for the downtrodden. The director seems barely able to contain his glee in discovering an obscure American icon (at least until Laura Hillenbrand's biography, unread by this reviewer) he can exploit for his movie in order to create a myth he hopes will deliver it into classic status. But the resonance just isn't there for the modern audience. It's a modest entertainment with good performances by a gracefully aging Bridges, Maguire, Chris Cooper as Seabiscuit's trainer and an underused William H. Macy in comic relief as a goofy radio announcer, but tender though it is, its measured grasps for profundity come up short. The film does feature an outstanding sound design with excellent sound effects by Christopher Assells.