''Seabiscuit'' is a 2003 American
sports film
A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport, sporting event, athlete (and their sport), or follower of sport (and the s ...
co-produced, written and directed by
Gary Ross
Gary Ross (born November 3, 1956) is an American film director, writer, and producer. He is best known for writing and directing the fantasy comedy-drama film '' Pleasantville'' (1998), the sports drama film '' Seabiscuit'' (2003), the sci-fi act ...
and based on the best-selling 1999 non-fiction book ''
Seabiscuit: An American Legend'' by
Laura Hillenbrand
Laura Hillenbrand (born May 15, 1967) is an American author of books and magazine articles. Her two bestselling nonfiction books, ''Seabiscuit: An American Legend'' (2001) and ''Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redempt ...
. The film is loosely based on the life and racing career of
Seabiscuit, an undersized and overlooked
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...
race horse
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...
, whose unexpected successes made him a hugely popular media sensation in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. At the
76th Academy Awards
The 76th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2003 and took place on February 29, 2004, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 ...
, ''Seabiscuit'' received seven nominations, including
Best Picture.
Plot
In the early 20th century, as America enters the
automobile age,
Charles S. Howard
Charles Stewart Howard (February 28, 1877 – June 6, 1950) was an American businessman. He made his fortune as an automobile dealer and became a prominent thoroughbred racehorse owner.
Biography
Howard was dubbed one of the most successful Buic ...
opens a bicycle shop in San Francisco. He is soon selling automobiles, becoming the largest car dealer in California and one of the Bay Area's richest men. In the wake of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, Canadian
John "Red" Pollard
John M. "Red" Pollard (October 27, 1909 – March 7, 1981) was a Canadian horse racing jockey. A founding member of the Jockeys' Guild in 1940, Pollard rode at racetracks in the United States and is best known for riding Seabiscuit.
Family ...
's family is financially ruined, and he is sent to live with a horse trainer. Years pass and Pollard becomes a jockey, but amateur boxing leaves him blind in one eye.
After their young son is killed in an automobile accident, Howard's wife leaves him. He obtains a divorce in Mexico, where Pollard is struggling to make his mark as a jockey. Howard meets and marries Marcela Zabala. When he acquires a stable of racehorses, he hires itinerant horseman
Tom Smith as his trainer. Smith convinces him to buy a colt called
Seabiscuit. Though a grandson of the great
Man o' War
Man o' War (March 29, 1917 – November 1, 1947) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is widely regarded as the greatest racehorse of all time. Several sports publications, including ''The Blood-Horse'', ''Sports Illustrated'', ESPN, and t ...
and trained by the renowned
James E. Fitzsimmons
James Edward "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons (July 23, 1874 – March 11, 1966) was a Thoroughbred racehorse trainer.
Early life
Born in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn in 1874, Fitzsimmons began his career in 1885 working at a racetrack as a stable boy. After ...
, Seabiscuit is viewed as small, lazy, and unmanageable. Smith witnesses Pollard's similarly temperamental spirit, and hires him as Seabiscuit's jockey.
Under Smith's innovative training, Seabiscuit becomes the most successful racehorse on the West Coast and an underdog hero to the public. Howard issues a challenge to
Samuel D. Riddle
Samuel Doyle Riddle (July 1, 1861 – January 8, 1951) was an American businessman and racehorse owner. He was born in Glen Riddle, Pennsylvania, a small town southwest of Philadelphia given the family name by his father.
Samuel D. Riddle, ...
, owner of the East Coast champion and
Triple Crown-winning racehorse
War Admiral
War Admiral (May 2, 1934 – October 30, 1959) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the fourth winner of the American Triple Crown. He was also the 1937 Horse of the Year and well known as the rival of Seabiscuit in the 'Match ...
, but Riddle dismisses California racing as inferior. In the prestigious
Santa Anita Handicap
The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up and was once considered the most important race for o ...
, Seabiscuit takes the lead, but Pollard's impaired vision prevents him from noticing another horse surging up on the outside. Losing by a nose, Pollard admits his partial blindness to Smith.
Howard declares that Pollard will remain Seabiscuit's jockey, and rallies public support for a
match race with War Admiral. Riddle agrees, on the condition that they race with a rope and bell instead of a
starting gate
A starting gate also called a starting barrier or starting stalls is a machine used to ensure a fair start to in horse racing and dog racing.
History
Throughout the history of horse racing, there have been proposals as to how better to start ...
. With Seabiscuit at a disadvantage, Smith trains the horse to break fast at the sound of the bell. As the race approaches, Pollard severely fractures his leg in a riding accident. Informed he may never walk again, let alone ride, he recommends that his friend and skilled jockey
George Woolf ride Seabiscuit, advising him on the horse's handling and behavior from his hospital bed.
The highly anticipated "race of the century" draws a sellout crowd, with 40 million more people listening on the radio. Seabiscuit takes an early lead until the far turn; following Pollard's advice, Woolf lets Seabiscuit look War Admiral in the eye before surging ahead, and Seabiscuit wins by four lengths, delighting the nation. A few months later, Seabiscuit injures his leg. Pollard, still recovering from his own injured leg, tends to the horse as they both heal. When Seabiscuit is fit enough to race again, Howard brings him back to the Santa Anita Handicap, but is reluctant to allow Pollard to ride and risk crippling himself for life. At the urging of Woolf and Marcela, Howard relents.
Pollard, using a self-made leg brace, finds himself and Seabiscuit facing Woolf in the race. Seabiscuit drops far behind the field until Woolf pulls his horse alongside Pollard, allowing Seabiscuit a good look at his mount. With Woolf's encouragement, Seabiscuit surges ahead and passes the others. Heading for the finish line several lengths ahead, Pollard explains that the story of Seabiscuit is not merely of three men who fixed a broken-down horse, but that Seabiscuit fixed them and, in a way, they fixed one another.
Cast
Reception
Critical response
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, the film has an approval rating of 78% based on 205 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A life-affirming, if saccharine, epic treatment of a spirit-lifting figure in sports history". On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film a grade A on scale of A to F.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...
'' gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, and wrote: "The movie's races are thrilling because they must be thrilling; there's no way for the movie to miss on those, but writer-director Gary Ross and his cinematographer, John Schwartzman, get amazingly close to the action."
Accolades
The film is recognized by
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Lead ...
in these lists:
*2006:
AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – #50
See also
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References
External links
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{{Authority control
2003 films
2000s sports drama films
2003 drama films
American horse racing films
American sports drama films
DreamWorks Pictures films
Films about animals playing sports
Films about horses
Films based on non-fiction books
Films directed by Gary Ross
Films produced by Frank Marshall
Films produced by Kathleen Kennedy
Films scored by Randy Newman
Films set in the 1920s
Films set in the 1930s
Films set in the 1940s
Films set in Baltimore
Films set in San Francisco
Films set in Tijuana
Films shot in California
Films set in Kentucky
Films set in California
Films shot in Kentucky
Films shot in New York (state)
Films with screenplays by Gary Ross
Great Depression films
Sports films based on actual events
Spyglass Entertainment films
The Kennedy/Marshall Company films
Universal Pictures films
2000s English-language films
2000s American films