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Seabiscuit | Year: 2003 Classification: Drama Country: USA Directed: - Gary Ross Actors/Actresses: - Tobey Maguire - Jeff Bridges - Chris Cooper - William H.Macy Seabiscuit Races to History Also on Film Already one of the best horse-racing epics in film history (for a change, see "A Day At The Races" comedy by Marx Brothers), "Seabiscuit" does not break any new ground, but is a solid, flawlessly produced and at times completely enthralling movie, adapted from a successful book. The thrills come (as one might well guess) from the races the small underdog horse named Seabiscuit won in the 1930's, giving the Depression-stricken Americans something to cheer about. The movie needs a while to really get started and thus is just a little bit long, but eventually the overall craft sported by filmmakers redeems itself as truly impressive; no wonder the movie got seven Oscar nominations, although it converted none. Rock-solid male cast is of a real class -- Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Tobey Maguire and William H. Macy shining in a minor role -- while Elizabeth Banks (as Bridges' second wife Marcela Howard) gets a sound amount of coverage in a film with few female roles. The movie wisely eschews some cliches -- for example, after the jockey Red Pollard (Maguire) is forced to say good-bye to his parents as a youth we never see the mom and dad again, although this might ensure a real tear-jerking reunion. Instead, "Seabiscuit" is from the beginning to end an assured, safe and almost guaranteed entertainment for all. A beautiful film in every way. The story of Seabiscuit handily contradicts F. Scott Fitzgerald's assertion that there are no second acts in American lives. Cast off as an ill-tempered loser, the great race horse not only contrived a stunning second act for himself, but also for the three men who made him a champion--owner Charles Howard, trainer Tom Smith and jockey Red Pollard. Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling book retold the story for a new generation, and Gary Ross' film adaptation of the book should now serve to etch it permanently on the American memory. Even people who are indifferent to horses will fall in love with Seabiscuit and root for his ultimate victory. Ross and cinematographer John Schwartzman create some of the most exciting racetrack scenes ever committed to film. But contributing even more to the film's overall impact are the deeply moving performances of the film's trio of stars--Jeff Bridges as Howard, Tobey Maguire as Pollard and Chris Cooper as Smith. Each is impressive individually, but each gains immeasurably from the sheer perfection of the ensemble playing. Like Tinker to Evers to Chance, they're a perfect team, acting in perfect sync with each other. (One should also put in a good word for their teammates--William H. Macy, bringing in much-needed comic relief as the racetrack broadcaster Tick-Tock McGlaughlin, and Elizabeth Banks as Howard's supportive wife Marcela.) The first 30 minutes or so of the film takes its leisurely time introducing Howard, Smith and Pollard and telling their tragic back stories; though this exposition is absolutely necessary for the film to achieve its full impact, it also may cause you to start nodding off until the moment when Smith and Howard meet. From that second, everything clicks into place, and the movie becomes a magnificent race to the finish line. You will not find a more exciting or heart-tugging film this year than "Seabiscuit." Seabiscuit's a loser This movie is stunningly awful. Hollywood took an exciting and terse book and poured five cans of sugar over it. Each component of the film, barring the acting, is terrible. Randy Newman cartoonishly narrates the movie with a ridiculous "period" score and yet, out of nowhere, a track from Moby's over-sampled PLAY appears. The completely misguided voice-over narrative attempts to give the film some historical legitimacy and extra weight. All it does is add gravity to and repeatedly stall the momentum of what should have been a balls out movie. This movie lacks every quality that the horse, as described in the book, had. Its cinematography is grossly opulent, the screenplay is stuffed with self-importance, and the film moves at a snail's pace. One hour into the film and NOTHING HAS HAPPENED. Gary Ross, creator of the equally maudlin and hit-you-in-the-face-with-a-message Pleasantville, keeps the unnecessary history of the three principle characters at the expense of, incredibly, some of the horse races. Worst of all are the horse-racing segments themselves. The races are strangely uninvolving, and knowing that in most shots Tobey Maguire isn't actually on the horse detaches the viewer from the experience. By the end, I started skipping chapters of the DVD and found that doing so made ZERO DIFFERENCE except for the pleasure of knowing I'd kept twenty minutes of my life from being trapped on the back of this lame Seabiscuit. Someone should bar Tobey Maguire and Gary Ross from coming within one hundred feet of each other, because the results of their meetings are excruciating for American movie goers. Buy Seabiscuit at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Seabiscuit Search with the Priority Search Engine on Seabiscuit This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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