Alpo

Rating: Null/10 (10 August 2003)

Seabiscuit is one of those typical sentimental flicks that uses moments of heroism from either the characters or circumstances in order to gain audience approval. If I had a dollar for every time I ran across such scenes whether in this, Forrest Gump, or Braveheart I could retire right now.
What I cannot figure is the narrative structure. The creators send us a flurry of images in the style of watching "The American Experience" on PBS, then revert back to a 'typical movie.' If they wanted this to be a history lesson, emphasize the former, if they want drama, then the latter. I am happy that they kept an even balance.
Tobey Maguire is the new Matthew Broderick, but he lacks the ability of expression that Broderick had already mastered. In other words, his performance is no different than in Spider-Man or Pleasantville. It's the writers that make his backstory that form our sympathy for him, not his acting.
Patriotism is a poor substitute for intelligence, but this movie knows that it isn't smart (Hollywood self-awareness? amazing!) so it doesn't try. It reverts to the old 'class war' motif, so change "patriotism" to "pride" instead.
Overall, a nice film that is at least halfway decent. My only major criticism is the amount of money they spent on it. Did they really expect to get a profit out of this? 3.5 out of 5 stars.