There used to be a time when the result of the race for the Oscars was a foregone conclusion. If a film had been successful at the box office and critically praised enough, few doubted that it would, even with subterfuge from the likes of Harvey Weinstein promoting undeserving rivals, reap the harvest of golden statues. In 2004, the film expecting and ultimately winning such a prize was The Return of the King, the last part of The Lord of the Rings saga. But that race, like many others, had competitors that appeared as though they could have, with some luck, beaten the odds. Such a potential dark horse was Seabiscuit, a 2003 period sports drama written and directed by Gary Ross, a film that, by coincidence, happened to be dedicated to a horse.
The film is based on the best-selling book by Laura Hillenbrand, which covered one of the most legendary sports events of 1930s America. The country at the time was suffering from the Great Depression, with millions enduring hunger, poverty, humiliation, and having their dreams shattered over economic woes. One of these people was Charles S. Howard (played by Jeff Bridges), a former California car dealer whose wealth evaporated due to the Wall Street Crash, an event followed by the tragic death of his young son and the failure of his marriage. Howard desperately tries to open a new page in his life and sees opportunity in a career as a thoroughbred racehorse owner. The animal he picks is Seabiscuit, a colt that has good pedigree but is considered lazy, weak, and with hardly any chance of success at the track. Howard nevertheless believes in Seabiscuit and hires an ageing cowboy, Tom Smith (played by Chris Cooper), to break and properly train the animal. The last piece of the puzzle is John “Red” Pollard (played by Tobey Maguire), a young man who has been thrown out of his home when his family couldn’t support him and later spent years as a drifter doing odd jobs. He is hired as a jockey and, since both he and Seabiscuit are outsiders, he quickly bonds with the horse. Seabiscuit starts winning races against the odds, creating a media sensation that would allow for the great 1938 race in which he would compete against War Admiral, a heavily favoured horse with rich and successful owners.
Seabiscuit is a film that continues Hollywood's tradition of celebrating the American Dream through stories about underdogs using their hard work and belief in themselves to beat the odds and attain success. Sports dramas like Rocky are very suitable for that purpose. Writer and director Gary Ross underlines this by basing the story on real events and setting it in a time period when the American Dream looked further from reality than usual. The film benefits greatly from a narrative structure that is based on three protagonists (not including the horse). They are very different characters, but they are played by very fine actors like Jeff Bridges, regal Chris Cooper, and Tobey Maguire, who tries and generally succeeds in conveying the frustrations and anger of a young man. All these characters are joined in a single purpose which they, in good Hollywood tradition, attain at the end. Despite some unavoidable Hollywood corniness and sentimentality, Seabiscuit is at times a very dark film that doesn’t shy away from some unpleasant aspects of life. Ross, however, can’t resist the temptation to wear his political affiliation on his sleeve, so, in order to add some context he fears young viewers wouldn’t get, he adds short documentary segments showing the plight of people during the Depression while, at the same time, praising the grand work of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Democratic Party whose New Deal policies succeeded in beating the Depression and matched Seabiscuit’s achievements. While there is nothing wrong with giving political context to an otherwise simple story, Ross does it in a heavy-handed manner which at times turns into misguided propaganda. Although a solid old-school film that deserves praise and an audience even today, Seabiscuit obviously didn’t deserve an Oscar.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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