Shallow story about a great horse

Rating: 6/10 (2 January 2004)

Gary Ross's 2003 film `Seabiscuit' is a nice, albeit long family tale with little redeeming value beyond filling a much needed void for family movies when the children are too old for Disney cartoons, but too young for older fare like the `Lord of the Rings.'
The story is filmed in an entertaining way and is exciting at times, particularly during the nicely filmed race sequences. At other times the movie plods along quite slowly and really avoids some of the major issues that are surrounding the main characters, namely the need to deal with loss and abandonment.
Two actors truly shined in this movie Â– William H. Macy and Chris Cooper. Macy portrays a wondrously nervous and alcoholic racetrack announcer while Cooper depicts the talented and quiet horse trainer, Tom Smith. Jeff Bridges and Toby McGuire did not harm the film, but either through their own means, the directors or the scripts they add little to the films potential depth and merely just move the plot along.
Not a great film, but worth a look on video especially with pre-teen children.