Seabiscuit

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Macy: Tick Tock McGlaughlin</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> David McCullough: Narrator</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Gary Stevens III: George Wolff</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="269"><div> Directed by and screenplay written by Gary Ross</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Based on the novel by Laura Hillenbrand</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="516" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1587 WIDTH="510"><div> <B>The Bottom Line</B>: An unlikely-looking horse becomes the lovable underdog of a nation besieged by the Great Depression, changing the lives of a broken down jockey, an out-of-place horse whisperer and a grieving millionaire. </div> <bR> <div> <B>The Story: </B>Set during the economic crisis of the 1930's, "Seabiscuit" begins by introducing three men separately, each caught at a crossroads. Charles Howard (Bridges), a successful car salesman, has made his millions developing the Buick but ironically loses his son in an auto accident, a tragedy that destroys his marriage. Red Pollard (Maguire), abandoned by his family at a young age, is barely scraping a living as a mediocre boxer and an unnoticed jockey. Tom Smith (Cooper) is a dying breed-the horse charmer whose skills are under-appreciated in a society infatuated by the automobile. When Howard buys the nearly unsalable Seabiscuit on the advice of wise old Smith, who likes the fighting spirit in the animal and hires Pollard as his jockey, this indomitable trio is born. Together they enter Seabiscuit in a series of races, overcome the setback of Pollard's serious accident to beat the east-coast champion War Admiral in a match race, and also capture the Santa Anita purse.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More: </B>The film merges the distinctive style of a Ken Burns documentary (complete with narration by historian David McCullough) with the typical Hollywood treatment of a story of an underdog's rise to the top of the heap. Gary Ross' screenplay of Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling novel "Seabiscuit" results in a distinctively unique approach to a familiar tale.  Black-and-white footage chronicling the turbulent times, with voiceovers by McCullough, are interspersed throughout the two hour-plus film, giving this true story a sense of history; a dimension for the audience to better understand the phenomenon of this remarkable horse.</div> <bR> <div> Yet this gimmick cannot erase the cloying sweetness of "Seabiscuit." Although this is a Dreamworks production, it smells just like a Disney film. Randy Newman's emotional music swells at just the right moments; the characters' lives too neatly parallel the horse's and the platitudes spew out like a minister's unending sermon. "You don't throw a whole life away just `cause he's banged up a bit," becomes the nauseatingly obvious theme here. Put away the sledgehammer, please.</div> <bR> <div> Hillenbrand's book is crammed with fascinating facts about the tough lives of jockeys-their grueling regimes to lose weight and its adverse effect on their health. Also a brief mention of the weighting of the horses-an odd omission from the script-would have added considerably to the importance of Seabiscuit's victories, since he carried more additional weight than most horses.  Some of that gritty racetrack realism would have been a welcome antidote to this syrupy screenplay. </div> <bR> <div> Likewise, the portrait of Tom Smith in the film is vastly different from the book. Apparently the real Smith was a curmudgeon, impatient with the press, secretive about his training practices and an extreme non-talker. The film paints Smith as a loveable eccentric-a cuddly horse guy, all his rough edges smoothed away.  Too bad-he is a fascinating character, warts and all.</div> <bR> <div> Indeed, at over two hours long, the film could have developed its characters more fully. Perhaps there was simply too much material. I could not help thinking, however, that any character exposition would have been better than the lame scene which has Howard, Smith and Pollard hiding in the bushes as they spy on War Admiral. Its striking resemblance to a moment from "Gilligan's Island" is disconcerting.</div> <bR> <div> Yet William H. Macy is hilarious as the fictional radio announcer Tick Tock McGlaughlin whose homemade sound effects, animated facial expressions and female companion give "Seabiscuit" some welcome comic relief. Interestingly, this is the only character that is not part of the novel.</div> <bR> <div> On the whole, this inspiring story of the little horse that could and the people whose lives were changed by him is definitely worth seeing. Those who have not read the book may find some of the gaps confusing, others may be annoyed by the skeletal characterizations but everyone will be buoyed by this heart-warming story of plucky courage.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="621" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> Rated PG </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> Cathy Edsey Collins © 2003</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> <A HREF="Cathyedsey@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cathyedsey@aol.com"><U><U>Cathyedsey@aol.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 ><NOBR><div> Jeff Bridges: "<B>K-Pax</B>", "<B>The Contender"</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Tobey Maguire: "<B>Spiderman"</B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 ><NOBR><div> Chris Cooper: "<B>Adaptation"</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> William H. Macy: "Door to Door"</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Gary Ross: "Pleasantville"</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="286" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>