Rating: 
Summary: Inspirational Film...
Review: I watched this movie on an impulse with a friend, so I didn't really know what to expect out of it, only with the knowledge that it's based on a true story, but I ended up enjoying the film anyway. Basically it's about a horse, Seabiscuit, that folks have given up on, but with a little help and support from a few nice people, Seabiscuit makes his way to the top. It's a great movie for the family. Very heartwarming and makes you feel really good after you get up off your seat to leave the theater. In addition, it gives you a few glimpses into the past history of cars and the pasttime of horse races.I'd reccommend this movie if you're trying to steer clear of those summer blockbusters that have been hyped up and have typical plots you've seen a million times. It's also good cuz you don't have to deal with cell phones going off during the movie and high schoolers giggling and talking during every other scene. This movie isn't really being hyped up but it's definitely something nice to watch.
Rating: 
Summary: A New Classic--Seabiscuit
Review: Astounding! Breathtaking! Heartfelt! Inspiring! I can't say enough about this wonderful film. Seabiscuit is the best movie I have seen in a long, long, time. The kind of movie that is destined to become a CLASSIC and the kind of wonderful film that Hollywood doesn't seem to make any more. This is not only the story of a "little" horse with "heart" but it is also a story of the human spirit and the healing of men during the historical event of the American Great Depression. The actors are ALL marvelous. Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Tobey Maquire, Elizabeth Banks, William H. Macy and I can't remember who plays George Wolf, one of the other jockeys, but he is great too. The tenderness and the spirit in which each plays their role should win some (or all) of them an Academy Award nomination--especially Jeff Bridges and Tobey Maguire. The casting director should be commended. This is a wonderful, inspiring, and uplifting film--the best of the current CENTURY. It is also very revelent for our current economic times and will bring you a contentment you haven't felt in a long, long time. Take your kids, your teens and everyone to see it. This type of film genre won't come around again for a very long time. Don't miss it! This is one INCREDIBLE FILM!
Rating:
Summary: An excellent movie about second chances in life
Review: In addition to what others have written here, I saw Seabiscuit as a wonderful story about second chances in life - something we all need. There were second chances for Seabiscuit, the owner, the trainer, and the jockey. They all endured much and suffered through many obstacles in life. I loved the director's use of David McCullough to narrate at the beginning to give it a doumentary touch. Many of us were familiar with his wonderful narrative voice from "The American Experience" and Ken Burn's "Civil War". That let the audience know this was a true story. If all of that isn't enough, I learned the author of the book, Laura Hillenbrand, suffers with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and endured much to research and write the book.
Rating:
Summary: A great story powerfully brought to the screen
Review: Seabiscuit is a story of tremendous courage and triumph of the human (and equestrian) spirit. The actors did an outstanding job in bringing their characters to life. Jeff Bridges (as the emotionally burdened owner), Chris Cooper (as the down-on-his-luck trainer), and Tobey Maguire (as the orphaned street boxer turned jockey). The story comes together and flows well. The horse racing scenes were well done- watching the race and training scenes, I could almost feel the gallop of a horse, and the wind rushing through my hair- it captures the exhilerating feeling of riding a horse at a full gallop. Only drawback about these scenes are the obvious insertion of the computer enhanced crowd. My only critique of the film as a whole is that the historical narration interspliced into the body of the film about the Great Depression, while informative, breaks up the flow. It made me feel like I was watching a public TV documentary for those few minutes. I believe this information could have been conveyed in a more creative and personable way then through a documentary narrative that calls attention to itself and derails the intensity of the film. Overall, an excellent story, well acted and directed. Well worth seeing! Interestingly enough, the lady sitting behind me in the theater actually lived through the Great Depression and followed the Seabiscuit story as a little girl. She was impressed with the accuracy and realism of the film- she said afterwards that "it brought back great memories" of the amazing story for her.
Rating:
Summary: the year's first Oscar contender
Review: A Film by Gary Ross Seabiscuit is the kind of story that if we didn't already know that it was true, we'd never believe it. At its heart, it is the story of a horse that was too small and a jockey that was too big and nobody believed that team could win anything. Now add the facts that the trainer was nobody that anyone wanted around, the owner didn't know squat about horses, and the jockey was blind in one eye, and you have yourself an unbelievable story that is too strange not to be true. The early pacing of the movie is rather slow and Gary Ross takes the time to establish the era of the movie. We learn what kind of families these characters came from and what helped shaped them into the men they became. The early part of the film is narrated by David McCullough (author of the Pulitzer Prize winning book John Adams), who has the perfect narrating voice. We are presented with the sense of time and place that becomes important throughout the film. The film is heavy on exposition as we see Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges) move out west to open a bicycle shop, but pulled himself up even higher and became incredibly rich selling cars (he makes a comment "I wouldn't pay $5 for a horse, these automobiles are the future"). He buys a huge ranch, but puts race cars in the horse stalls. We see Tom Smith (Chris Cooper) riding his horse in the open range, but coming up against fencing that wasn't always there. We see a well-off, loving family spending time together. Then the stock market crashes and the Great Depression hits. Smith is an outcast, the Pollard family is ripped apart as they send their son, Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire) to live with someone else, and the son of Charles Howard dies in an accident. Howard's wife leaves him. The Depression has broken these men, and it has also broken America. Flash forward six years. After more than a little bit of exposition to give us the setting, the movie begins to move forward and gets a whole lot better. The main characters start to come together. Howard is down in a border town watching a bull fight when he steps outside, not liking what he was watching. He meets Marcela (Elizabeth Banks), ends up marrying her, and buys a horse to race (she gets him back into riding and more interested in horses). Howard needs a trainer before a horse, so as they are walking and talking Howard sees a man standing off to the side grooming a horse. He asks who that man is and is told that he is just some kook. Howard later approaches Smith and they start talking horses and Smith ends up working for Howard and looking for the perfect horse to buy and race. Seabiscuit, the horse, came from impeccable breeding but disappointed everyone and became a lazy an angry, lazy animal with no interest in much beyond eating. Tom Smith saw the heart in the animal and convinced Howard to give the horse a chance. Now all they needed was to find a rider. Red Pollard was pretty much down and out, having not been the most successful jockey (despite being a natural at it). He was working, yelling at a horse but treating it well. Smith saw something in Pollard and brought him in to work with Seabiscuit. It was a match made in heaven as the horse improved and it appeared he might even be able to race. Now all the important parts have been brought together and from the point that they began to come together the movie is an absolute gem. We have Seabiscuit overcoming obstacles, winning races and becoming what seems like a national treasure, the little horse that could. One of the many things this movie does right is the racing scenes. Even expecting that Seabiscuit will win the races, Gary Ross still manages to make them look exciting and suspenseful. There are several races and each of them have their own feel. The most masterful piece of editing comes in the glory race against War Admiral that when the bell sounds the film shifts to documentary style photography of people listening to the radio and we hear the radio broadcast of the race. I was so impressed with that scene that it was almost a minor disappointment when they went back into race footage (which again, was beautiful and perfectly done). The only quibble I have with the movie is that it leans rather heavily on the metaphor of the little guy being beat down but making the most of a second chance. Everyone involved with the horse was that sort of "rising above the circumstances" story, but the movie pushed the metaphor even further into Seabiscuit (the horse) being the metaphor for all of the millions of Americans hurt by the depression. It was probably necessary for the film to do this, but I felt that it was pushed at us a little bit too much. This is only a minor quibble and the rest of the movie more than surpasses this little bit of sentiment. I know that there is half of the year left for movies, but right now Seabiscuit has to be thought of as the first real Oscar Contender. Cooper, Bridges and Maguire are all stellar, but the real gem (in a movie filled with gems) is the supporting work of William H Macy as Tick Tock McLaughlin, a radio man who provides quite a bit of humor and spark into the film. Simply put: Excellent movie.
Rating:
Summary: the best movie so far of 2003
Review: I loved every moment of this movie and hope to see it again. Kept me entirely interested throughout the whole movie---its a long movie. The horse racing scenes made you feel like you were right there in the audience and you couldnt help but root for Seabiscuit. The actors played their parts exceedingly well and were most believable. Hooray for a movie that is not silly and over exagerated. Its a winner!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful peace of work.
Review: Tobey Maguire is Johnny. A.K.A. Red. He is the man that could handle Seabiscuit like nobody can do. Jeff Bridges is the man that hired Maguire to ride the horse. He has a wife that is going to help Bridges to get Maguire to ride the horse. William H. Macy plays the guy who does all the radio stuff for example this little toy called the xylophone. Maguire's best friend is Georgie who is substituting Magire after he hurt himself. The horse race scenes are really spectacular.
Rating:
Summary: Way to go, Biscuit!!
Review: This movie is a film I could see over and over again. The racing, western scenery, and great characters combined to create the best movie I've seen in a long time. It's not just for horse people! I was impressed with all the actors especially Chris Cooper and William H. Macy as Tick Tock.I wasn't around in 1938 but the movie demonstrates the appeal The Biscuit had for Americans reeling from the Depression. I did read the Laura Hillenbrand book but that merely whetted my appetite for the movie. I'll definitely get the video-it's a keeper!
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring
Review: When I read Laura Hillenbrands wonderful book on the racehorse Seabiscuit, I knew it would be a movie. The story, or at least the general outline that is sufficient for the Hollywood writers, was just too perfect for Tinseltown to pass up. Seabiscuit takes up the mantle of underdog sports movie from favorites such as Rocky, where a weak young challenger manages to overcome the odds and take down the money favorite. The director of Seabiscuit sure picked the right story, as the true story of the little racehorse that could is choc full of underdogs and people down on their luck. After all, the short era of Seabiscuit was at a time when almost everyone in the United States was downtrodden, looking desperately for some hope. The viewer knows this will be a movie steeped in history when you first hear David McCulloughs warm narration come onto the screen. Seabiscuit came in the midst of the Great Depression, at a time when many Americans had simply given up. The people around Seabiscuit were such people. Jeff Bridges character, Charles Howard, was a still wealthy businessmen who had deep emotional scars. Chris Cooper, who plays renegade trainer Tom Smith, is a man who belongs in another time, when horses were actually respected for the fine animals they were. Toby Maguire is struggling jockey Red Pollard, who is also permanently affected by the personal tumult brought on by the depression. He had lived a very hard life, and is dedicated to the only thing he knows how to do, ride. Together, these three misfits happen on a little horse that shares in their collective deficiencies. Seabiscuit was a horse bred for great things, but he is listless and too small, never impressing anyone. The story pretty much writes itself from there out. Seabiscuit soon develops into a real champion, under the patient tutelage of Cooper and the sponsorship of Bridges. The horse bonds with Maguire, and together they put together a really historic win streak. The culmination of the movie is the match race against War Admiral, the monstrous champion that was backed by the big money interests in the east. The film does a good job portraying what an event this was to the American people, who, nationwide, had been following the exploits of the little horse that kept on winning. It is a story intricately linked with history, and, to its credit it does not forget that. The only real problem I had with the movie was the storyline. I understand that the makers had to deal with a lot varying storylines and plot twists, but I felt this was somewhat mishandled throughout the movie, especially in the beginning. This might have more impact on people who read the book. All the performances are good, especially Bridges and always memorable Chris Cooper. Quality supporting roles come from William H. Macy, as the Winchell-esque radioman Tick Tock McGlaughlin, and from real life jockey Gary Stevens, who plays champion George Woolf. The factor that stands out the most in this movie is the cinematography, which will almost certainly win an Oscar. The beautiful racetracks are restored to their glory days, and all the settings are brilliantly done. The best shots of the movie come in the races themselves, as the director did a wonderful job of really placing the viewer among the racehorses. A very good adaptation, but you should still read the excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: better than Flicka
Review: I grew up in the 40's where My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead Son of Flicka, and National Velvet were our favorite horse story movies. Seabiscuit is better than all of them. I enjoy every moment and cheered even though, because I knew the history, I knew the ending. There were some pre-teens sitting close to us and it was delightful to hear the sighs, cheers, and claps from them. Oh, for more of this type of film! Thanks, Hollywood, you are back to decency and delight. That entertainment!
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