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Good but could have been so much more. Even though the film version of Seabiscuit hardly covers 1/3 of the book, it really is a good movie. It's important to remember that the film is based on a non-fiction biography, not a novel. The film itself tries to capture this by adding in some documentary type elements. It's also important to know that even though the biography is titled "Seabiscuit", it's as much about the people who were a part of his life as it is the horse himself. In fact, the film pretty much ignores the biographical portions of the book about the horse himself. Most of the complaints I have heard about this film is that it's too predictable or that it's too "feel good". Since when was history "too predictable?" As for too feelgood, this was a horse who uplifted a nation during the great depression. Laura Hillenbrand's book covers so much about the life of Seabiscuit and the people around him, that it's impossible to fit it all into a movie. Instead, the filmmakers wisely decided to capture the heart of the book rather than the details, and they mostly succeed. The story of Seabiscuit is mostly about three unlikely characters who find themselves drawn together over an incompetent race-horse, and how they make him better only to have him make them all better. This theme, the film captures amazingly well. The performances by Bridges, Cooper, and Maguire could hardly be better. The acting, charisma, and chemistry are top notch, and make the film enjoyable on their own. But Gary Ross is telling the story of a horse that captivated a nation, and even if 2 1/2 hours is too short to really show you why, it's plenty of time for him to captivate you. When people say this film is "too much of a feel good movie" or "it's too sappy" that should be considered a compliment, because this is what happened in the late 1930's, and this movie captures it. Icing on the cake is the incredible cinematography that confidently states, "no horse movie was ever shot as good as this." All this combined with the soul-stirring score, makes me say, if this film doesn't move you, maybe you have no soul. But as good as Seabiscuit is, it's not perfect. While many people might claim the film is too long, I claim the opposite. One of the biggest complaints about the film is that the end seams anti-climactic when compared to the powerful climax of the War Admiral match-up that the movie really focuses on. The other complaint is the predicability of Seabiscuit winning all the time. In the movie, he mostly does, but in reality, he lost a lot. The biggest losses were the first two times he ran the Santa Anita Handicap (aka the Hundert Grander), the biggest race in the west, and the highest stakes race in the country. In the film, we never are treated to Seabiscuit's failures to capture Howard's dream. We only see him finally winning it in 1940, where we wonder what the big deal is. The big deal is, Seabiscuit lost this race twice. When he finally ran it a third time, it was a few years later and he was a geriatric seven years old (that's old for a race horse). On top of that, he had suffered a supposed career ending injury as well his jockey had too. To top it off, he had to carry an extremely high impost (extra weight) that was much more than any other horse competing. Then you have the bad history of this race. How many more cards could be stacked against him? In reality, this race was the highlight of Seabiscuit's and Red Pollard's careers, yet the film fails to convey this. Instead it uses the 1940 Hunderd Grander as an epilogue to the horse's acheivements and impact on the lives around him. While this is all fitting, and it works, I think an extra 20 minutes of film used to convey the story I just did, would have improved the impact of the ending of this film. But what film can't you critique? Don't let this dissuade you from the movie, but persuade you to read the even better book (which has plenty to offer even after you've seen the movie). I don't know when feel good movies became a bad thing. This film should prove that they are not. email this review to a friend
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