Rating: 
Summary: HORSIN AROUND
Review: Gary Ross' SEABISCUIT is more than just a tale of a horse. The movie is the story of three men who have lost much and gain much more through this determined horse.
Tobey Maguire, excellent as Red Pollard, has lost his family, eyesight in one eye, and eventually he is nearly crippled in a tragic accident. His indomitable spirit, however, is recaptured by riding and loving Seabiscuit.
Jeff Bridges, outstanding as Howard, lost his son to a tragic auto accident, eventually his wife, and a lot of money during the great crash. He marries a lovely girl (played quite well by Elizabeth Banks) and through Red and Seabiscuit, he too regains a life.
The excellent Chris Cooper is a cowboy who has lost his land....we see him touching a barbwired fence which imprisons what was once a cowboy's land. His gentleness and his knowledge of horses catapults him into the spotlight, and he too regains his dignity.
The whole cast and the expert direction of Gary Ross gives SEABISCUIT a dramatic and entertaining lift; William H. Macy as Ticktock, the radio deejay, is fabulous and adds a lot of humor to his role.
Rating:
Summary: And the Winner Is.....Seabiscuit
Review: "Seabiscuit" is one of the best film releases of 2003. It stars Tobey McGuire, Jeff Bridges, William H. Macy, Chris Cooper, and more. This film explores the true story of a man determined to follow his dream of being a horse racer. The writers brilliantly combine that with two other stories: a man whose business is hurting because of The Great Depression and a man determined to save the horses from slaughtering. Such added substance keeps the audience interested. The emotional aspect of the plot is wonderfully expressed through the words and the events. It wonderfully keeps this film unique rather than the average horse racing movie. The actors follow the emotional value brilliantly. Whether they express pain, anger, happiness, determination, or sadness, they always perform at their finest. Tobey McGuire and Jeff Bridges capitalize this. McGuire takes his career to new and better levels with his demanding role as the determined horse racer. His character's painful childhood is never held back with his reactions to everything in life. Bridges behavior roles express his character's turbulent times perfectly. This is his best role in years. Chris Cooper's acting quality in this movie lives up to his Oscar winning role in "Adaptation". His character's love for animals is obvious thanks to him. The set-up construction and the costume designs are accurate to the American early 1900's style. Obviously, the artists researched this time period thoroughly. Even the character's make-up is flawless. The months spent perfecting every detail paid off. "Seabiscuit" is a great movie for those looking for something great and inspiring. This is sure to please many audiences for a long time. Some may have to watch it more than once to fully understand all the details, but in the end, many will be glad once they did.
Rating: 
Summary: Seabiscuit's a loser
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: The Ultimate Feel-Good Movie And A Real Winner!
Review: Three men and a horse, all born with incredible talent and Heart, (with a capital "H"), and all hit by life's hard knocks, prove that indomitable spirit can overcome crippling odds. Real winners may just be losers in disguise, looking for the opportunity to overcome adversity and show their true colors. This actual story of the race horse Seabiscuit and his owner, trainer, and jockey is set against the background of the Great Depression. It is the ultimate feel-good movie. Film writer-director Gary Ross effectively portrays how the actual Seabiscuit and his saga had a galvanizing effect on America's "everyman," hit hard by hard times, as the down-and-out racehorse became the hopeful parable for their lives. Many of the film's scenes are juxtaposed with black and white still shots taken during the depression era, beautifully illustrating the period, and the tone of the characters. The use of a narrator also lends an air of documentary authenticity to many of the newsreel-like sequences. The cast is excellent. Toby Maguire shines, as usual, in his role as the bruised but not beaten jockey "Red" Pollard. Tom Smith is wonderful as Seabiscuit's enigmatic horse trainer. Mr. Smith's lines may be few but he lends an extraordinary presence to the role and the movie. Wealthy and successful businessman Charles Howard, played by Jeff Bridges, is a man with vision who pulled himself up by his bootstraps only to be thrown by personal tragedy. He bought a loosing horse on the word of a down-and-out trainer and hired a half blind jockey to race him. These characters become inextricably bound as, together, they undergo the journey of a lifetime. William H. Macy, as the fast talkin' radio tipster, and his blonde female sidekick, are show stealers. Seabiscuit somehow manages to avoid lapses into corniness, and against all odds, an equestrian film about an undersized, bad-tempered horse goes for the money and competes successfully with some of the years best films. Highly recommended! JANA
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: This movie has a very slow start for the first one hour, but you want to stay with it as it has a superb finish. It is the story of four unlikely heros who during the 1920s and 1930s defied the odds to rise to the top of horse racing. The horse owner, the horse trainer, the jockey and Seabiscuit present a heartwarming true story, against long odds but filled with courage, loyalty and great effort, as they achieve greatness.
Rating:
Summary: Great feel good flick!
Review: Hope rose from the ashes of dreams broken in the Great Depression in the form of Seabiscuit, the little horse that could. This story of an owner and down-and-out trainer and jockey who made the impossible possible and defeated even a Triple Crown winner is all the more heartwarming because it's true. Tobey Maguire shows just how underrated he is as an actor as legendary jockey Red, and casting real champion Gary Stevens as George Wolfe adds realism to racing scenes perfectly choreographed and coordinated by Chris McCarron. Although there's some cursing, drinking and a lot of brawling, I still recommend this as a great family film. Enjoy
Rating:
Summary: A heartfelt approach to American dream...
Review: Adapted from the novel with the same title, Seabiscuit is a movie dealing with soul searching, ventures, and hopes in life. Not only is it another movie promoting courage and human tenacity, the historical setting of the Great Depression vitalizes the three male protagonists whose destinies were linked by coincidence.
Charles Howard, played by Jeff Bridges, was a successful entrepreneur who hit the goldmine with the automobiles he developed by chance. However, things went upside down when the Great Depression caused the collapse of his enterprise, his only son killed by his very own automobile, and his wife's subsequent leave. On the other hand, Tom Smith (Chris Cooper) was a veteran horse trainer who became underappreciated and isolated after the depression. Red Pollard, played by Tobey Maguire, was abandoned by his parents at young and struggled to support himself both on a horse race course and a boxing ring, ending up black and blue.
The three miserable men met and stake their ambitions on horse racing. After tying the knots with his second wife, Howard returned to his aspiring self and decided to venture on horse racing. He later recruited Smith and together they found Seabiscuit, a small horse whom Smith believed to possess unlimited potential. Pollard happened to be the only person who could placate Seabiscuit's wild temper and consequently he became the jockey. Together Seabiscuit and Pollard conquered most competitors in a number of races. However, awful truths were revealed and later other accidents occurred, so they had much more to overcome...
While the plot may be another cliché aimed to inspire people, the narration throughout the movie remains entertaining and the acting is superb. The little horse was expertly trained and really makes viewers believe that it has lived the story. In addition, the movie's 141-minute running time enables it to insert depth which prevents it from falling in the foul category of inane comedies.
To stand up again after numerous times of stumbles is the key to American spirit, and this movie really epitomizes the refusal of conceding. Although such optimism appears unrealistic at times, it is what people like to believe. Thus, the movie is truly an excellent piece of wish fulfillment, showing that everything is possible.
Rating: 
Summary: Romanticized but nice...
Review: Great period costumes, great musical score, and who can ever resist the story of someone (or in this case, 3 someones and a some-horse) being down and out and coming back to triumph?
Every member of the cast is steller. Tobey Maguire, my favorite, as Red Pollard (jockey), brings the perfect blend of bookish, literature-quoting, damaged vulnerability and angry street-wise smartmouth. William Macy, with that unique staccato delivery of his, cracked me up everytime he was on screen as the sound-effect happy announcer.
I echo those reviewers who expressed the opinion that the movie starts out slowly and builds interest as it progresses; no matter, so did Star Wars.
I enjoyed the extras of the dvd, all of which are interesting and relevant, including a bit of back history about Seabiscuit himself and another on making the film. (Tobey Maguire as Pollard was sometimes just sitting on a stepladder rather than a real horse in more than one shot!)
One thing I have to say about this film: It piqued my interest enough to do a little research as to what became of everyone, the owner, trainer and jockey as well as the horse, after winning their ultimate. I was somewhat puzzled and disappointed as to why there was no footnote added to the film telling of their fates. Well, now I know why. After all that pulling together as a team, they all drifted apart. Red Pollard slid down the sucess ladder until the point where he was actually just hotwalking racehorses; Seabiscuit himself was put out to stud, but dropped dead of a heart attack at the age of 14, not even middle aged for a horse. I'm really happy those associated with the film chose to end it on such an upbeat and hopeful and positive note, even if it didn't accurately portray their fates. Full-on accuracy would never be so entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Worth buying
Review: It's Ken Burns meets Frank Capra in the inspirational true story of Seabiscuit, the little horse who could. This inspirational tale follows a half-blind ex-boxer (Tobey Maguire), a mustang breaker (Chris Cooper) and a millionaire (Jeff Bridges) as they bring their knobby-kneed, undersized racehorse, Seabiscuit (played by a herd of horses), to win Horse of the Year honors in 1938. But the movie is not just about a racer; the horse's personal story of triumph over tragedy mirrors that of the American nation in that era. Based upon the book by Laura Hillenbrand.
Staci Layne Wilson
Author of Staci's Guide to Animal Movies
Rating:
Summary: A few comments
Review: I just had a few brief comments on this film.
I really enjoyed this film and was surprised at how good it was and how well it kept my interest, especially considering I don't know much about horse racing. I'm usually not too sentimental about films, but this one is truly a heartwarming story about a kindly, big-hearted tycoon who basically takes in three rejects and outcasts: the jockey (Toby McGuire), the old cowboy and horse-trainer (Chris Cooper), and Seabiscuit himself, and with his support and encouragement they overcome all odds to turn into a winning team and make Seabiscuit the most famous racehorse of all time. As Bridges says in one of his speeches to the press, "Our horse is too small, our jockey is too big, our trainer is too old, and I'm too dumb to know the difference," (which gets a big laugh from the crowd).
One of the most touching scenes in the movie is when the jockey and Seabiscuit, both recently injured and thought too seriously to ever return to racing, are both shown limping around the estate's grounds together on their long road back to recovery.
Also, it's nice to see Ned Beatty is still working. He has a brief cameo as the doctor who advises Jeff Bridges that McGuire shouldn't try to ride since if his injured leg breaks again, he could be permanently crippled and never walk again.
I read part of the book before seeing the movie, and there was one fascinating fact there I wanted to mention. The year Seabiscuit was winning all his races he had more mentions in the paper than the president himself--a truly amazing fact and another testamonial to how famous he became. The story of Seabiscuit captured the imagination of a depression-weary America with its tale of an unlikely underdog who eventually defeats the legendary War Admiral to become the champ.
I also recall some years ago the Associated Press and ESPN did a 100 greatest athletes of the last century, and Seabiscuit was listed right along with Babe Ruth, Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis, Muhammed Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, and other famous names.
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