Seabiscuit (2003)

True story of the undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but also those of their nation.

Director:

Gary Ross

Writers:

Laura Hillenbrand (book), Gary Ross (screenplay)

Stars:

Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Elizabeth Banks

Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 37 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David McCullough	...	Narrator
Jeff Bridges	...	Charles Howard
Paul Vincent O'Connor	...	Bicycle Supervisor
Chris Cooper	...	Tom Smith
Michael Ensign	...	Steamer Owner
James Keane	...	Car Customer
Valerie Mahaffey	...	Annie Howard
David Doty	...	Land Broker
Carl M. Craig	...	Sam (as Kingston DuCoeur)
Michael O'Neill	...	Mr. Pollard
Annie Corley	...	Mrs. Pollard
Michael Angarano	...	Young Red Pollard
Cameron Bowen	...	Pollard Child
Noah Luke	...	Pollard Child
Mariah Bess	...	Pollard Child

Storyline

It's the Depression, and everyone needs to hold onto a dream to get them through the bad times. Car maker Charles Howard is no different, he who is trying to rebuild his life after the tragic death of his only child and the resulting end of his first marriage. With second wife Marcela at his side, Charles wants to get into horse racing and ends up with a team of underdogs who are also chasing their own dream. The first is trainer Tom Smith, who has a natural instinct to spot the capabilities of horses. The second is the horse Tom chooses for Charles, Seabiscuit, an unconventional choice as despite his pedigreed lineage, Seabiscuit is small at fifteen and a half hands tall with a slight limp. But Tom can see something in Seabiscuit's nature to make him a winner, if only Seabiscuit can be retrained from his inbred losing ways. And third is the jockey they decide to hire, Johnny "Red" Pollard, so nicknamed because of his hair color. Like Tom, Red has always shown a natural way with ...

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Plot Keywords:

horse movie | animal character name as title | lawnmower | seabiscuit | horse | 

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Taglines:

A long shot becomes a legend.

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Genres:

Drama | History | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual situations and violent sports-related images

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the horses that portrayed Seabiscuit is called Popcorn Deelites and now lives at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm in Georgetown, KY. Old Friends is open to the public.

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Goofs

In one scene, the trainer is consulting with the jockey in the jockeys' room. During the races, only jockeys are allowed in the jockeys' room

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: They called it the car for Everyman. Henry Ford himself called it a car for the "great multitude." It was functional and simple, like your sewing machine or your cast-iron stove. You could learn to drive it in less than a day, and you could get any color you wanted, so long as it was black.
Narrator: When Ford first conceived the Model T, it took thirteen hours to assemble. Within five years he was turning out a vehicle every 90 seconds. Of course, the real invention wasn't the car, it was ...

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood's Top Ten: You're an Animal (2011)

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Soundtracks

Learning to Be Nicer
Written, Arranged and Conducted by George Fenton
Courtesy of Shogun / Eaton Music Ltd.

User Reviews

Good and touching movie about horse races with a magnificent cast

The film is set in the 30s , economical crisis time , the 29 crack and the ¨Great Depression¨ . A lot of people have got starvation and distresses , although with President Franklyn D. Roosevelt and his ¨New Deal¨ America will retrieve its splendor . This is a story of rich and pauper people . It's a fable of hits and flops . The movie centers on a horse and a good rider (Toby McGuire) , the trainer (Chris Cooper) , the owner (Jeff Bridges) and his wife(Elizabeth Banks) and a journalist (Willian H. Macy). The movie is based on real events and there are various flashbacks developing the historical deeds .

In the motion picture there are humans emotions , drama , tearjerker and several horse races . Runtime film is overlong , two hours and some and though the picture is slow-moving , isn't boring , neither tiring . The final duel between two contender horses is overwhelming and exciting . War Admiral was played by one of his descendants, a gelding named Verboom . While the movie describes War Admiral as being a huge horse close to eighteen hands tall, the real-life War Admiral was well known for being one of the smallest sons of Man o' War . War Admiral was actually the same size as Seabiscuit , which was approximately fifteen hands tall . The flick is apt for everybody , because there isn't violence , nor murders , but agreeable feelings . The movie had nomination various Oscars but didn't get Academy Awards and attained a moderated success , though didn't failed at box office . Interpretation by Toby McGuire is cool , Chris Cooper is excellent, as always , and Jeff Bridges is nice . Randy Newman musical score is riveting , likeness to Jason Swartzman cinematography that is fascinating , too . THe picture was well directed by Gary Ross . Rating : 7,5/10 . Very Good , well worth watching . Better tan average .

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 July 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Seabiscuit

Filming Locations:

Lacy Street Production Center - 2630 Lacy Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$87,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,854,735, 27 July 2003

Gross USA:

$120,277,854

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$148,336,445

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Dreamworks Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1