Seabiscuit was the little horse that could #x2014;a pop culture phenomenon in Depression-era America who won the 1937 Santa Anita Handicap against all odds and beguiled an ailing nation.
Written off in his early years as a grumpy, awkward loser, Seabiscuit was trained for victory by three broken men: too-tall jockey Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire), tragic millionaire Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges) and washed-up cowboy Tom Smith (Chris Cooper). Pleasantville director Gary Ross' self-penned script focuses on this maverick trio and how they came to find redemption through their unlikely partnership.
OK, it's not just a horse flick #x2014;some of Seabiscuit's most resonant moments occur in the first half-hour as Ross details the rise of mass entertainment culture in '30s America. This may sound like a recipe for the worst kind of mawkish US myth-building but Ross avoids the pitfalls and, with the aid of a killer trio of lead performances, delivers the finest racetrack movie since Frank Capra's Broadway Bill.
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