The one thing about a lot of these Oscar films is that they are often tailored towards a purely adult audience. Even the fantasy-strewn Lord of the Rings was given a 12 Certificate due its strong level of violence as well as the fact that Gollum was probably quite scary for young children. However, after twenty-five films filled with bad language, nudity and violence I was ready to settle down for something a little more sedate. Thankfully that was provided for me in the form of Seabiscuit; a charming PG-rated film about the little racehorse that could. In fact the closest that Seabisucit got to violence was during the races themselves when the jockeys tried to push each other off of their respective horses.
Despite being the title character, Seabiscuit doesn't feature in the first part of the film which instead focuses on us getting to know the other members of the team. The stories of both Seabiscuit's eventual jockey Red Pollard and owner Charles S Howard are fairly sombre in tone and anchor the film's first third. Although born to a wealthy family, Red soon found himself out on the streets following the Wall Street Crash. Taken in as a stable boy, Red later began racing himself however was subsequently blinded in one eye following an illegal boxing match. Meanwhile Charles made his money in the motor industry but went on a downward spiral after his son died in a car accident. Both men were rehabilitated when they came into contact with the rambunctious Seabiscuit who was initially thought as being too wild to tame. The horse is originally brought to Howard by the wily Tom Smith; an outcast horse trainer who eventually forms a surrogate family with Red and Charles. From there the film resembles more of a classic sports movie with Seabiscuit gaining popularity due to Red's fine relationship with his new horse. Howard eventually targets wealthy tycoon Samuel Riddle and challenges him to a race against his famous horse War Stallion. Meanwhile tragedy befalls Red as he learns he may not be able to ride again following a tragic fall. However, as is often the case with these sorts of films, everybody finds a redemption of sorts and the last line of Gary Ross' film is so sickly sweet that it did make me throw up in my mouth a little bit.
As well as being the little horse that could, Seabiscuit was the little film that could; securing a surprise place in that year's Best Picture category. At the time many were suspecting the spot that Seabiscuit ultimately got to go to Anthony Mingella's epic civil war drama Cold Mountain. That film certainly feels like much more of an Oscar-film than this cute but slightly unremarkable family drama. What I liked about Seabiscuit were the way the race sequences were shot and John Schwartzman's cinematography made me experience what being part of those races would've been like. There were also a trio of incredibly likeable turns from Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges and Chris Cooper all of whom brought out the complexities in their characters. Maguire was perfectly cast as weedy jockey Red and allowed his naturally emotive face to relay the various heartbreaks that his character experienced across the years. Bridges brilliantly balanced Howard's effervescent personality with his personal tragedy to present a realistic persona. Meanwhile Cooper's turn as the rough and ready trainer added an extra dimension to the trio's makeshift family. Additionally enjoyable was William H Macy's few appearances as quirky racing journalist Tick Tock McLaughlin. The problem I had with Seabiscuit was in its storytelling as it started incredibly slow and took too long for the three main characters to meet. I also felt the tale started to meander towards the movie's ending whilst some of the dialogue was rather trite. Overall I feel that Gary Ross' film will appeal to families looking for a fulfilling real-life tale and to it's credit it does deliver that. But nothing about Seabiscuit is particularly memorable and it definitely never felt like a film that deserved its spot in the Best Picture category.
After all these lovely horse-racing adventures we're back to reality with a triple bill of Martin Scorsese movies.
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