Seabiscuit

views updated

Seabiscuit ★★★½ 2003 (PG-13)

Equine Cinderella story of the legendary Seabiscuit—a funny-looking, illtempered thoroughbred—and the men who shaped him into a racing legend: owner Charles Howard (Bridges); partially blind, oversized, luckchallenged jockey Red Pollard (Maguire); and trainer “Silent” Tom Smith (Cooper) who believed in the underdog horse. The ragtag trio eventually wangles a race with the morecelebrated War Admiral, whose owner had previously refused to share a track with the far inferior Seabiscuit. Writer/director Ross delivers suitably rousing race scenes in this can't miss story of an unlikely champion who brought hope and inspiration to the Depressionera crowds and became a symbol of hope. All three leads are outstanding, as is Macy as an excitable radio announcer. Based on Laura Hillenbrand's bestseller “Seabiscuit: An American Legend.” 140m/C VHS, DVD, HD DVD . US Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, William H. Macy, Gary Stevens, Eddie Jones, Ed Lauter, Michael O'Neill, Royce D. Applegate, Annie Corley, Valerie Mahaffey; D: Gary Ross; W: Gary Ross; C: John Schwartzman; M: Randy Newman; Nar: David McCullough.