Seabiscuit
(HD-DVD)
Picture:
B Sound: B- Extras: C+ Film: C+
There is
a conflict about doing any film about the American experience in narrative
form, whether with a true story or not, and that is do you go for the dream
aspects or tell the more honest story?
Recently, Bill Paxton’s The
Greatest Game Ever Played (reviewed elsewhere on this site) showed how you
could do both, while Francis Coppola’s Tucker
(1988) with Jeff Bridges as the groundbreaking car designer taking on the auto
industry leans more towards a feel-good film than showing all of the dark
underside Coppola might have shown had he made the film earlier.
Gary Ross
is a successful film producer who pulled off a remarkably daring directing
debut with Pleasantville (1998)
about the dark underside of the 1950s played out as a 1950s situation comedy
world soon to revels all of its colors literally and figuratively. It is one of the most underrated films of the
last decade and some wondered if Ross would continue to be as daring. With the story of the horse Seabiscuit (2003) and how it was an
underdog with underdog supporters pulling off one of the sports world’s
all-time upset and triumphs.
Jeff
Bridges is Charles Howard, the owner of the title horse, anxious to see how far
it can go. Tobey Maguire is Red Pollard,
a Canadian horse jockey who was not having the best of success. Trainer Tom Smith (Chris Cooper) decides to
have him handle & ride the horse and then things start to happen and smack
dab in the middle of The Great Depression.
The horse was not wanted by anyone until Howard got him and then a
winning streak began. How far it went
and that it was about more than racing is what Ross’ adaptation of Laura
Hillenbrand’s book does is maybe at least slightly oversimplify the story for a
feel-good effect that does not always work.
The
performances, costumes and production design are solid and acting very good,
but no matter how good the film gets, it simply never goes far enough. By comparison, Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man (reviewed elsewhere on
this site) manages to deal with the action and time it is happening in without
backing off from the darker underside while still retaining the elements that
this film intended.
In the
end, the film is still a mature, intelligent, adult work of some substance that
works more often than not, but after finishing, it, you will fell the sense of
something unfinished or a few layers missing.
Still, better to have some good cake than none at all.
The 2.35
X 1 1080p digital High Definition image was shot in Super 35mm film by
cinematographer John Schwartzman, A.S.C., who usually does action films and to
his credit lays back and allows the film to happen. Of course, he makes any action with the
horses interesting and the only drawback is that the image is slightly darkened
throughout to remind us that it is happening in the past. This is becoming cliché quickly, but this
film did it early. The film has spots of
black & white, but is mostly in color.
The Dolby
Digital Plus 5.1 mix is on the quiet side, only kicking in during some action
sequences and with some music in the surrounds.
Randy Newman’s score is not bad, but nothing that sticks with you,
though serves the scenes well enough.
Extras includes the HBO First Look episode on the film, stills,
A&E True Story Of Seabiscuit program that is pretty good, making of
featurette, Winner’s Circle: Heroes
Behind The Legend piece, the 1938 Seabiscuit v. War Admiral race, Anatomy Of A Scene sequence, Seabiscuit
– Racing Through History piece on the horse and audio commentary by
Ross and the filmmaker Steven Soderbergh.
Whatever
the film misses, these extras cover, though we also have other material on the
site on the legendary horse, the people and the history on the site. The film is worth a look, but be in an awake
mood before hitting the play button.
- Nicholas Sheffo
