Review of Seabiscuit (2003) by Albert G — 07 Oct 2011

I have had the DVD for years, and last night I saw it for umpteenth time so my 14-year old could watch it for the first time. I still love it. The spirit and the message is timeless -- who doesn't like a story about second chances? This movie is about four of them, all converging into one of the best tales of the triumph of the human spirit.

I'm guessing that much of this magic comes from the masterful writing of Laura Hillebrand's book on which the movie was based -- which I'm only now witnessing as I've just begun reading her latest book (Unbroken).

I have this inexplicable tendency to watch the movie whenever I need a pep talk. The cast was perfect -- mostly. Maguire, Bridges, Cooper, and Macy delivered masterful performances; my only quibble is Banks, who I think was poorly cast to play a dark-haired Mexican woman (did they want to keep the cast completely white?).

However, the rest of the movie is more than enough to forgive this little quibble. On top of this was the great cinematography, the interesting way that little "history lessons" were periodically inserted to give the greater context behind the story, the inspiring music, and great sceneries.

It is definitely a timeless classic as far as I'm concerned; I look forward to seeing it again with my grand-children. (I wonder if they'll still have DVD players then?).