Ambitious Horse

Rating: Null/10 (18 September 2003)

Director Gary Ross clearly wanted this movie to tell the story of the time in which the great Seabiscuit ran almost as much as he wished to tell the story of the horse itself; indeed, to him it would seem the two stories are inseperable. That's laudable and though at times some of the scenes that focus on and tell us about the epoch the horse ran in don't jell with the ones they sit between, I nonetheless appreciated getting that sense of those years. It's unfortunate that in a linear manner, this story, the real one, which they seemingly slavishly stuck to, has some dramatic moments in places that don't serve films well. It seems like the movie is over, for example, when Toby Maguire is hurt, replaced by another jockey, and then they win the big challenge race anyhow. But it lunges forward from that for another 30 minutes before ending with stuff that is not nearly as dramatic or interesting as the stuff surrounding the challenge race was. Also, knowing horse racing a bit, did they really need to have extended dialogue with the jockeys during races? It don't happen, sure a few words here and there but riding a thoroughbred race horse is a tough, dangerous and physically demanding job and you don't got time for anything resembling real conversation. And no jockey is gonna be off for a year or more and then ride in a huge race for BIG money with no other races to get him back into riding shape mentally and physically; to expect us to believe that is a real big stretch. The acting isn't bad but both Bridges and Maguire seem hardly needed, there's not much room for them to shine. Chris Cooper, on the other hand, is wonderful, he's understated and strong, with loads of integrity. Seabiscuit on the whole is a wonderful story about a wonderful horse in a difficult time that, against big odds, triumphs over a lot of adversity. I can see why Ross wanted to marry that story with the time in which Seabiscuit ran, and that decision alone makes the movie worth seeing.