A dead cert
Seabiscuit is the story of how a horse that most people thought was only fit for the knacker’s yard inspired three men to in turn inspire a nation.
Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges) was a car salesman who made a fortune selling the American dream, that is until the Great Depression turned his dream into a nightmare. After the death of his son Frankie (Dyllan Christopher) he finds himself drifting back to one of his real passions, horses.
He decides to buy Seabiscuit, a horse with an excellent pedigree, but an annoying habit of losing races.
Horse trainer Tom Smith (Chris Cooper) sees something special in the horse and he teams Seabiscuit up with jockey Johnny ‘Red’ Pollard (Tobey Maguire), who despite being too tall and blind in one eye, proves the perfect partner for the misfit horse.
After some early teething problems, Seabiscuit goes on to become a racing legend, inspiring a nation along the way. The American public, struggling through the aftermath of the Great Depression, identifies with the horse’s struggle and the way is paved for a showdown with the country’s top horse, War Admiral.
War admiral’s owner, millionaire Samuel Riddle (Eddie Jones) is reluctant at first to face Seabiscuit, but press and public pressure forces him to agree to a race at Pimlico that went down in racing folklore.
Like all good underdog films, Seabiscuit takes the attention off the sport itself and makes us focus on the characters’ lives and struggles.
Through those characters, director Gary Ross builds on the theme of people getting a second chance in life.
Rent this one, it’s a winner.
Drama,12. 4/5
