Great entertainment

Rating: 8/10 (12 August 2003)

Reading through the reviews here, I note several that are thoughtful and insightful. Of course, there are those "This movie did nothing for me...," comments too and one can expect such in a public forum such as this one. However, as an older reviewer whose mother was a racehorse maven who could give the genealogy (the "blood lines") of any major race horse, who could name every jockey and his record, and who could recite statistics better than the Racing Form, I was raised with Seabiscuit and my views are somewhat different. To begin with, one must start with Lauren Hillenbrand's book on the horse. She recreates the era that made this horse the legend that he was with all the moles and wrinkles but she also makes the point that it was the combination of horse-- a questionable nag with good bloodlines but a poor showing from the beginning, trainer-- an out-of-the way ex-cowboy who had the 'feel' for horses, the riders-- Red Pollard and Georgie Wolff-- two great jockeys who understood how to get the best out of this amazing animal, and Charles Howard-- entrepreneur, adman and promoter par excellence.
The movie gives us all of this. Bill Macey's comedy-relief newscaster becomes the clarion for the awakening of the awareness of a new hero born in a time of utter desperation. The cast is great and the story never gets maudlin.
There may have been a few liberties with the facts but nothing is sacrificed for drama. The story ends where it ought to end, leaving the viewer with a sense of departing nostalgia.
This movie has all the elements of a potential classic. Whether it has legs or not, time will tell. However, it is definitely worth the price of a ticket to see it on the big screen.