Seabiscuit (film)

Plot

In the early 20th century, as America enters the automobile age, Charles S. Howard opens a bicycle shop in San Francisco. He is soon selling automobiles, becoming the largest car dealer in California and one of the Bay Area's richest men. In the wake of the Great Depression, Canadian John "Red" Pollard's family is financially ruined, and he is sent to live with a horse trainer. Years pass and Pollard becomes a jockey, but amateur boxing leaves him blind in one eye.

After their young son is killed in an automobile accident, Howard's wife leaves him. He obtains a divorce in Mexico, where Pollard is struggling to make his mark as a jockey. Howard meets and marries Marcela Zabala. When he acquires a stable of racehorses, he hires itinerant horseman Tom Smith as his trainer. Smith convinces him to buy a colt called Seabiscuit. Though a grandson of the great Man o' War and trained by the renowned James E. Fitzsimmons, Seabiscuit is viewed as small, lazy, and unmanageable. Smith witnesses Pollard's similarly temperamental spirit, and hires him as Seabiscuit's jockey.

Under Smith's innovative training, Seabiscuit becomes the most successful racehorse on the West Coast and an underdog hero to the public. Howard issues a challenge to Samuel D. Riddle, owner of the East Coast champion and Triple Crown-winning racehorse War Admiral, but Riddle dismisses California racing as inferior. In the prestigious Santa Anita Handicap, Seabiscuit takes the lead, but Pollard's impaired vision prevents him from noticing another horse surging up on the outside. Losing by a nose, Pollard admits his partial blindness to Smith.

Howard declares that Pollard will remain Seabiscuit's jockey, and rallies public support for a match race with War Admiral. Riddle agrees, on the condition that they race with a rope and bell instead of a starting gate. With Seabiscuit at a disadvantage, Smith trains the horse to break fast at the sound of the bell. As the race approaches, Pollard severely fractures his leg in a riding accident. Informed he may never walk again, let alone ride, he recommends that his friend and skilled jockey George Wolfe ride Seabiscuit, advising him on the horse's handling and behavior from his hospital bed.

The highly anticipated "race of the century" draws a sellout crowd, with 40 million more people listening on the radio. Seabiscuit takes an early lead until nearing the far turn; following Pollard's advice, Wolfe slows Seabiscuit, allowing War Admiral to match Seabicuit's stride. Seabiscuit looks War Admiral in the eye before surging ahead and winning by four lengths, enthralling the nation. A few months later, Seabiscuit injures his leg. Pollard, still recovering from his own injury, tends to the horse as they both heal. When Seabiscuit is fit enough to race again, Howard brings him back to the Santa Anita Handicap; he is reluctant to allow Pollard to ride and risk crippling himself for life. At the urging of Wolfe and Marcela, Howard relents.

Pollard, using a self-made leg brace, discovers Wolfe is also in the race on a new mount. Seabiscuit drops far behind the field; Wolfe slows and pulls alongside Pollard, allowing Seabiscuit a good look at Wolfe's mount. With Wolfe's encouragement, Seabiscuit surges ahead. Heading for the finish line several lengths ahead, Pollard's voiceover explains that Seabiscuit was not merely a broken-down horse that three men fixed, but that Seabiscuit fixed them and, in a way, they fixed one another.

Cast

• Tobey Maguire as John "Red" Pollard
  • Michael Angarano as Young John "Red" Pollard
• Jeff Bridges as Charles S. Howard
• Chris Cooper as Tom Smith
• Elizabeth Banks as Marcela Zabala-Howard
• Gary Stevens as George Wolfe
• William H. Macy as "Tick Tock" McLaughlin
• Eddie Jones as Samuel Riddle
• Michael O'Neill as Mr. Pollard
• David McCullough as The Narrator

Release

The film was released on July 25, 2003, by Universal Pictures. Universal distributed the film in the United States and Canada, DreamWorks Pictures through United International Pictures handled distribution in Germany, Scandinavia, and Spain, while Spyglass Entertainment acted as pre-sales agent in all other territories. Japanese theatrical distribution was handled by UIP separately from the DreamWorks deal, while Pony Canyon handled home video rights, with Buena Vista International purchasing distribution rights in all other territories.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 78% based on 208 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A life-affirming, if saccharine, epic treatment of a spirit-lifting figure in sports history". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on a scale of A to F.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, and wrote: "The movie's races are thrilling because they must be thrilling; there's no way for the movie to miss on those, but writer-director Gary Ross and his cinematographer, John Schwartzman, get amazingly close to the action."

Accolades

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

• 2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – #50

References

References

1. "Seabiscuit (2003)". [[IMDb]].
2. Turan, Kenneth. (July 25, 2003). "Horse comes out a winner". [[Los Angeles Times]].
3. Dawtrey, Adam. (March 30, 2003). "UIP to distrib Spyglass duo in Japan".
4. "Seabiscuit". [[Fandango Media]].
5. "Seabiscuit Reviews". [[ViacomCBS Streaming.
6. "SEABISCUIT (2003) A". [[CinemaScore]].
7. Ebert, Roger. "Seabiscuit movie review & film summary (2003)".
8. "The 76th Academy Awards (2004) Nominees and Winners". [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]].
9. "AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers". [[American Film Institute]].