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Movies / On DVD / Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit

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Seabiscuit (2003)

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Reviews Counted:197

Fresh:152

Rotten:45

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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41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
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Half a success, Seabiscuit is full of stuff to admire but little to really care about.

Full Review Source: Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) | comment Comment
09/20/03
Mark Palermo
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

I had thought it was FDR, rather than Seabiscuit, that pulled America up from the depths of depression.

Full Review Source: Film Snobs | comment Comment
09/14/03
Stephen Himes
Stephen Himes
Film Snobs

In the structure of his screenplay Ross has taken a risk, and he has not quite brought it off.

Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
08/27/03
Stanley Kauffmann
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic

There's no escaping the fact while watching it that we're essentially watching the story of an icon founded out of PR hype.

Full Review Source: MovieMartyr.com | comment Comment
08/24/03
Jeremy Heilman
Jeremy Heilman
MovieMartyr.com

Before Seabiscuit hits the homestretch ... the movie slogs through some mud, weighed down by a filmmaker who doesn't quite trust the horse carrying his colors.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal | comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

You could have just as easily substituted in any random NASCAR, or even Lance Armstrong's bicycle and achieved the same result.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment Comment
08/20/03
Joshua Tyler
Joshua Tyler
CinemaBlend.com

Unfortunately, too much of Seabiscuit forces its ideas on us, rather than allowing us to discover them for ourselves.

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
08/17/03
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

A triumph of a movie – one that, despite a certain historical and emotional gloss, we can only hope gives us as real an account of horseracing as it appears.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
08/14/03
Jon Lap
Jon Lap
Apollo Guide

Gary Ross' work is skilled and sublime from almost all angles, transcending a sporting drama into a multifaceted film that enthralls and captivates.

Full Review Source: Star Newspapers (Chicago, IL) | comment Comment
08/11/03
Michael Drakulich
Michael Drakulich
Star Newspapers (Chicago, IL)

Gary Ross' work is skilled and sublime from almost all angles, transcending a sporting drama into a multifaceted film that enthralls and captivates.

Full Review Source: Star Newspapers (Chicago, IL) | comment Comment
08/11/03
Michael Drakulich
Michael Drakulich
Star Newspapers (Chicago, IL)
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
08/09/03
Boston Phoenix

The film celebrates old-time American value, such as loyalty, honestly, perseverance. Sure it's about winning, but winning the right way.

Full Review Source: Zap2it.com | comment Comment
08/08/03
Vanessa Sibbald
Vanessa Sibbald
Zap2it.com

For all its promise and hype, "Seabiscuit" is unfortunately little more than a sugar cube of good intentions undermined by a saccharine aftertaste.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
08/08/03
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

There’s something else going on besides the usual Oscar-baiting, triumph-of-the-human-and-equine-spirit shrink-wrapped Gourmet Film.

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
08/06/03
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

[Seabiscuit] clicks on all cylinders as a technical achievement in re-creating a piece of racetrack history, though its larger sociological statements are more than a little overblown and oversimplified.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
08/06/03
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer

A Cinderella story for all ages.

Full Review Source: Oregon Herald | comment Comment
08/05/03
Mark Sells
Mark Sells
Oregon Herald

Solid storytelling (if a little too slick and calculated) guaranteed to generate a lump in one's throat.

Full Review Source: Movie Boeuf | comment Comment
08/05/03
David N. Butterworth
David N. Butterworth
Movie Boeuf

Audiences young and old are likely to luxuriate in the opportunity of spending a couple of summer hours in the company of kinder, gentler moviegoing fare.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
08/02/03
Richard Horgan
Richard Horgan
FilmStew.com

You just HAVE to see this.

Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment Comment
08/01/03
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette

Ross restores the good name of crowd-pleasing.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
07/31/03
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
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