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Movies / On DVD / Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit

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Seabiscuit (2003)

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Reviews Counted:196

Fresh:152

Rotten:44

Average Rating:7.1/10

Consensus: A life-affirming, if saccharine, epic treatment of a spirit-lifting figure in sports history.

Runtime: 2 hrs 21 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: You don't throw a whole life away just 'cause it's banged up a little. It is a story that inspired a nation…and one that almost didn't happen. It is the story of a country whose dreams had... You don't throw a whole life away just 'cause it's banged up a little. It is a story that inspired a nation…and one that almost didn't happen. It is the story of a country whose dreams had been shattered…and the people who found a hero in an average horse that could achieve the unthinkable. It is the story of three lost men-Johnny "Red" Pollard (TOBEY MAGUIRE), a young man whose spirit had been broken; Charles Howard (four-time Oscar® nominee JEFF BRIDGES), a millionaire who lost everything; and Tom Smith (Academy Award® winner CHRIS COOPER), a cowboy whose world was vanishing-who found each other and discovered hope in an unlikely place. The odds were incredible. The dream was impossible… And somehow, it actually happened. From Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker GARY ROSS (Pleasantville, Dave) comes the motion picture adaptation of the story that transfixed a nation from one of the most beloved and widely-read non-fiction books of the past decade: Seabiscuit. To film the tale of the down-and-out racehorse that took the entire nation on the ride of a lifetime, screenwriter/director/producer Ross has assembled an impressive list of seasoned and accomplished filmmaking talent, both in front of and behind the camera. Joining Maguire, Bridges and Cooper in the cast are ELIZABETH BANKS (Catch Me If You Can, Spider-Man) as Marcela Howard, Charles Howard's wife; Hall of Fame Jockey GARY STEVENS (in his motion picture debut) as George "The Iceman" Woolf; and Academy Award® nominee WILLIAM H. MACY (Fargo, Boogie Nights) as reporter "Tick-Tock" McGlaughlin. Producing, along with Gary Ross, are prolific and Oscar®-nominated filmmakers KATHLEEN KENNEDY (A.I. Artificial Intelligence, The Sixth Sense) and FRANK MARSHALL (Signs, The Bourne Identity), and JANE SINDELL. The film is based on the best-selling book by LAURA HILLENBRAND. GARY BARBER (Bruce Almighty, Shanghai Knights), ROGER BIRNBAUM (Bruce Almighty, The Recruit), the film's Tobey Maguire, ALLISON THOMAS (Pleasantville) and ROBIN BISSELL (Pleasantville) serve as executive producers. Collaborating with Ross to re-create the world of the first decades of the 20th Century are director of photography JOHN SCHWARTZMAN, A.S.C. (The Rookie, Armageddon); two-time Oscar®-nominated production designer JEANNINE OPPEWALL (L.A. Confidential, Pleasantville); Academy Award®-nominated film editor WILLIAM GOLDENBERG, A.C.E. (Ali, The Insider); double Oscar®-nominated costume designer JUDIANNA MAKOVSKY (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Pleasantville); and Academy Award®-winning composer RANDY NEWMAN (Monsters, Inc., Toy Story). [More]

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Banks

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, Gary Stevens, William H. Macy

Director: Gary Ross

Director: Gary Ross
Screenwriter: Gary Ross
Producer: Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Gary Ross, Jane Sindell
Composer: Randy Newman
Studio: Universal Pictures

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Reviews for Seabiscuit

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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For a film about an unfancied underdog, Seabiscuit is just far too pleased with itself.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Trevor Johnston
Trevor Johnston
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

TV-movie slush.

Full Review Source: UK Critic | comment Comment
02/24/04
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic

It tells such a good story in such a cleverly old-fashioned way that you go along with practically everything.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
01/15/04
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Wonderfully lovely and uplifting. Ross could be accused of over-egging the pudding, but a yarn this handsome, heartwarming and thrilling can't lose.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
11/02/03
Angie Errigo
Angie Errigo
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

'The sort of film that really ought to star Robert Redford.'

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
10/31/03
Paul Arendt
Paul Arendt
Teletext

What should lift your spirit only threatens to eject your lunch.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
10/14/03
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Wonderful, heart-warming film with terrific performances from Maguire, Cooper and Bridges.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
09/06/03
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

It's a real crowd-pleaser ... and probably an Academy-pleaser as well!

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
08/14/03
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Writer-director Ross's true-believer American salesmanship%u2014inspired by Frank Capra and honed in Dave and Pleasantville--suits this story of American entrepreneurship, optimism, and resilience. [Blu-ray]

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
06/19/09
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

Respectable when it should be thrilling, honorable when it should be rough and ready.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
07/31/08
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[It] may be too airbrushed for its own good, but in the end nothing can stop this story from putting a lump in your throat.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
11/01/07
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek

Seabiscuit is not a work of great art, but it tells its solid story with grace and dignity.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
08/18/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

We root for Seabiscuit, of course, but more out of obligation than devotion -- after all, we paid to see him.

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

I found this film stultifyingly self-important and, despite the regularity with which it cuts to the chase, weirdly static.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
03/26/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader

So predictable that even this true story--the one so few people today know anything about -- seems like an accomplished fact before the opening credits are through.

Full Review Source: Baltimore City Paper | comment Comment
05/20/06
Blake DePastino
Blake DePastino
Baltimore City Paper

It's a well-made film with some nice performances, but it lacks any sort of dramatic fire.

Full Review Source: NYC Film Critic | comment Comment
03/05/05
Ethan Alter
Ethan Alter
NYC Film Critic

The foolproof recipe for an old-fashioned, crowd-pleasing slice of summer counterprogramming, and Gary Ross hasn't botched the ready-made job.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
01/03/05
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

The film becomes a parable about the power of seeing potential and cultivating it, even in those who do not aim so high themselves.

Full Review Source: Looking Closer | comment Comment
12/06/04
Jeffrey Overstreet
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer

The terrific horse racing sequences, exciting as they are, complement the base story of human dignity and perseverance.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Kansan | comment Comment
10/14/04
Steve Crum
Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Seabiscuit

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