Years later following a personnel upheaval Howard is taken by his friends to Mexico to recover as gambling and alcohol have become illegal in Prohibition America. It is here that Howard meets three people who will have a dramatic effect on his life. There is his future wife Annie (Valerie Mahaffey), Tom Smith (Chris Cooper), a trainer with a heart of gold, and Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire), a frisky jockey who was abandoned by his parents and who supplements his income by street brawling.

      With the nation suffering under The Great Depression and Stock Market Crash, Howard casts his lot in horse racing and based upon the advice of Tom, he purchases a feisty yet undersized horse named Seabiscuit. The horse is from a good pedigree but his size, behavior, and lack of competitive instinct have made him unsuitable to race according to most in the business. Tom believes that given a chance, the horse can be a winner and sets about training Red and Seabiscuit for racing.

      The horse bonds with Red and Tom and soon runs of a series of victories on the California racing scene gaining national attention in the process. Howard is a master of publicity and issues a series of challenges to the current Triple Crown winner War Admiral who is seen by many as the perfect and unbeatable horse. The challenge goes unanswered until the persistence of Howard pays off and the race of a lifetime is organized. While most films may use this race as the climax, it is used instead to set up a very emotional and inspirational final segment of the film. Bridges gives a fantastic performance that is Oscar worthy. I saw echoes of Bridges great work in the largely overlooked “Tucker: The Man and His Dream”, and he surpasses it in this film. Maguire is very strong and proves that he is able to hold his own against the best Hollywood can offer and is one of the best young talents in Hollywood.

      I can easily see this film garnering several award nominations, as it is a very well crafted film that had people at my screener cheering. Easily one of the best films of the year and a serious Oscar contender, see this movie.

     -- Gareth Von Kallenbache ( 4 out of 4 pops )

Talk about this film with other Popkorn Junkies

      Mike ( 3 1/2 out of 4 pops )

      Finally, a Hollywood summer movie arrives which actually shows that a script was written for it.  After so many video-game flicks this summer (like Terminator 3 and the second Lara Croft Tomb Raider to name just a few) where the script probably took minutes to write and filled with mindless and now boring special effects, Seabiscuit comes to the rescue with an engrossing story with lots of real characters you can actually care about and rout for. The acting here is topnotch, especially Jeff Bridges as the owner of Seabiscuit.  I also really like the performances by Chris Cooper and the hilarious William H. Macy (who I would love to see get nominated for a supporting actor Oscar for this role).   While some may think of this as a sports film, it's really about how a horse came out of nowhere to win the hearts of millions of people as well as to give the people who surrounded him a purpose in life again.  It is a long film but I didn't find that it dragged a bit. This movie really makes me want to read the book that it is based upon.

      Billy Ray ( 4 out of 4 pops )

      "Seabiscuit" is the best film of 2003, thus far. Wow, that is a bold statement, but nevertheless a true one. Gary Ross is an amazing writer/director, and just so happens to be the genius behind my favorite film of all-time, the fantastic "Pleasantville". Bridges, Maguire, and Cooper are marvelous in their individual roles, and William H. Macy is manic and exciting as the announcer. The cinematography is breath taking and certainly Oscar worthy. Of course, this entire picture is Oscar worthy. This one will make my end of the year list, without a doubt.