Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit is the feel-good story of a determined boy and a horse (…and their unconventional trainer…and their millionaire owner…and their feel-good story…) who triumph over adversity in this underdog drama guaranteed to leave you a sticky, sobbing puddle on the theater floor. (Trust us, Tobey Maguire’s red dye job will break the strongest of you.) But as far as melodramatic, motivational tales go, this one has some bright spots. Between Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, and William H. Macy, there’s enough competent star power to carry off parts of this tale of valor amid overwhelming odds without oversaturating with sap. Witness the transformation in all of their characters as each steaming pile of adversity is shoveled away by even more heart and courage…and new adversity! But where do the true stories end and the soggy, Hollywood seabiscuits begin? The horse racing sequences stumble out of the gates with jockeys chatting each other up ahead of photo-finish showdowns, while teary-eyed close-ups run wild in the film’s second half. The only real suspense comes from guessing how many comeback victories director Gary Ross will invoke to milk applause from the crowd. For our money, we’ll stick with Off-Track Betting.