 Seabiscuit (2003) I did, however, manage my one facial movement—painful though it is—in response to Seabiscuit (this movement is best described as slightly lowering my bottom lip). I'd really expected Seabiscuit to be a slick, reverential, but inherently boring snore party. Actually, based on the coma-inducing previews, I technically expected nothing aside from never bothering to waste my time with it. But Seabiscuit did surprise me, and in a very good way. Yes, it's slick and reverential, but it's also a fine piece of filmmaking—lush, atmospheric, historic, engaging, and even richly digressive. Writer/director Gary Ross, working off the 400-page-plus book, has managed to distill a huge amount of information into an emotionally satisfying character piece that looks like an epic but plays like an indie. Ross, who also wrote and directed the pleasant Pleasantville, tells of three broken men and one broken horse, all destined for the glue factory, who find redemption and triumph against staggering odds. Tobey Maguire plays Red Pollard, the jockey struggling to survive; Chris Cooper plays Tom Smith, the aging horse trainer nobody wants to hire; and Jeff Bridges plays Charles Howard, a rich car dealer reeling from his own tragedies, who sees potential in people the world's given up on. In a hysterical and unexpected twist, Seabiscuit the horse is played by Mike Myers in the front half of the costume, and Tom Green in the back. That these comedic geniuses manage to appear as if they're actually racing—while offering some very biting one-liners—is yet another surprise the movie has in store. Trust me, watching the extended special edition DVD was a hoot, with added scenes of Seabiscuit doing a funny dance (using a broken flower pot for a hat!), juggling horseshoes, and finding romance with a female Pegasus. The film spans decades, and incorporates historical interludes, narrated by historian David McCollough, that put the story into clear context. And yet it rarely feels rushed or cluttered. The acting is fine, as expected from this cast. Maguire still hasn't quite plumbed the depth that he's probably capable of, but he's effective. Cooper and Bridges, however, always bring great honesty and dignity to their roles, even when Bridges goes off inexplicably to capture a giant ape and save Jessica Lange (my wife claims I bumped the remote and accidentally switched over to AMC, which was playing King Kong, but even so, it fit the narrative nicely). The one poor choice in terms of casting—or if not a poor choice, maybe not the best use of a great actor—is putting William H. Macy in the comedic role of a radio announcer. It just felt incongruous and pushy, like "Even our throwaway roles are Oscar™ bait!" My only other complaint about Seabiscuit is that about halfway into the film the story shifts almost completely to the races, and the character arcs get lost amid the training montages and race scenes (all inexplicably set to Van Halen songs). Though the film brilliantly shows how Seabiscuit's improbable wins actually did help America regain its optimism during a very difficult time, it doesn't show us the more cinematically relevant effects on our protagonists. We get only a moderate sense that these men's lives have improved, and then mostly just because they smile a lot more. Similarly, the film ends somewhat abruptly without offering the much-desired title cards to explain what happened to Seabiscuit and company after the final fade out. I suppose it's a testament to the film's quality that I even cared to know what happened next. But I really don't want to have to read the book—turning pages is simply excruciating since Wanda, the restaurant janitor, put my hands in the egg cooker. Part of what makes the film so good is the overall attention to detail, which is all the more evident from watching some of the special features on the DVD, including a really interesting conversation between Steven Soderbergh and the director on how he breaks down the script moment by moment. As a result of these efforts, Ross has made a film with a broad scope but a very humanistic touch. Now if only these special burn gloves will eventually heal my skin so that I, too, can enjoy a humanistic touch.
Review by Crimedog |