Seabiscuit (2003) Review

Posted on the 28 January 2021 by Caz @LetsGoToTheMov7

Based on the very true story of Seabiscuit a small undersized racehorse whose victories lifted not only the team around it but the nation due to the depression era everyone was currently living in.

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Charles was a car marker and wanted nothing more than to change his current life during the Depression and after the death of his child and marriage ending with his first wife he has a second chance with Marcela his second wife. To change his fortune he decides to get into horse racing and ends up with a team of underdogs, Tom Smith a trainer has the ability to spot capabilities in horses however when he selects Seabiscuit this is something that Charles is not convinced with at all. The jockey they then bring in Johnny "Red" Pollard who is a rather angry young man who gets himself into plenty of trouble both on and off the track. Given his size he is rather large for a jockey and hence has weight issues because of this.

Putting Red and Seabiscuit together seemed like an utterly crazy decision and within the horse racing community they are pretty much laughed at and ridiculed. The fact that both the man and horse are not seen as anything special, brings them both together to really create a magical story. Considering I didn't really know much about the story before watching the film, obviously its a given that it will have some happy moments and a good message or it would never have made it to the screen.

Part of my massive Best Picture Project it was nice to eventually tick this one off the list, considering that Tobey Maguire was probably one of the reasons I had never made an effort to watch it before. I am just not a big fan of his, but more than happy to say that he is decent in this film. I also had no idea Jeff Bridges was in it which turned into a lovely surprise considering I am a big fan of his work. A rather serious role of Elizabeth Banks was pretty nice to see, I always feel she has become somewhat of a parody in recent years. Chris Cooper is another who is always strong in a more supporting role and that was no different in this film.

An underdog story is always nice to watch unfold isn't it and pretty much in this story we actually have three! Seabiscuit, Red and Charles are all underdogs when it comes to the racing world and quite frankly managed to prove everyone completely wrong and highlighting not to judge people by how they look and appear!