By Peter Morris in Los Angeles on November 10th 2003
This is one of those films that you could pretty much take the whole family too without having to cringe with embarassment in front of elderly relatives and yet still enjoy the story. It’s based on the true story of a legendary American racehorse who was almost literally saved from the knacker‘s yard but obviously if it was just about the horse it’d be a documentary. Instead what we have is the story of the people who worked with the horse- each one “damaged goods” and fit for their equivalent of the knacker‘s yard in their own unique way - and how working with “Seabiscuit” gives them a focus which gives their lives purpose.
The film stays pretty close to the best selling book by Laura Hillenbrand and contains some fascinating facts about America during the depression and prohibition and the brutality (some of it self inflicted) suffered by jockeys back then.
There are some good performances in the film notably from the always excellent Jeff Bridges (“K-PAX”, “The Contender”, ”Arlington Road” et al) as the millionaire who puts his money where the horse‘s mouth is: Chris Cooper (“Adaptation” ,”The Bourne Identity”,”The Patriot” et al)as the loner who can train horses like no one else: and Tobey Maguire (“Spiderman”, “Wonder Boys”, “Cider House Rules” ) as jockey Red Pollard who underwent his own fair share of tragedy amongst the glory .
But while these three deliver good performances none of them (in my opinion) really has enough of a solo role to merit the talk of Oscars that was heard in America when the film was released here - indeed if there are any gongs to be handed out it’s likely to be in the category of Best Supporting Actor where William H.Macy (“Fargo”, “Boogie Nights”, ”State and Main” et al) steals every scene he’s in as Tick Tock McGlaughlin the colourful radio announcer who covers the races on the course and for broadcast. This performance is truly worth the price of admission alone - more so when you know the director left him alone with a room full of props and bottle of his favourite tipple and told him to go for it!
Yes it’s formulaic stuff - the Rocky of the racecourse, if you like - but it’s a true story (which always appeals to my tastes) and if you’re not too picky and don’t notice that the kid with red hair suddenly turns into Tobey Maguire - then you’ll probably enjoy Seabiscuit. It’s a feelgood film, a true story and it’s shot well with good actors which are all factors in its favour. For those reasons it gets:
UK Release Date: 31st October 2003
David Jensen Photography:
https://www.davidjensen.co.uk/
