''Seabiscuit'' is a 2003 American

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

sports drama film co-produced, written and directed by

Gary Ross Gary Ross (born November 3, 1956) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He is best known for writing and directing the fantasy comedy-drama film '' Pleasantville'' (1998), the sports drama film ''Seabiscuit'' (2003), the dystopia ...

and based on the best-selling 1999 non-fiction book '' Seabiscuit: An American Legend'' by

Laura Hillenbrand Laura Hillenbrand (born May 15, 1967) is an American author. Her two bestselling nonfiction books, '' Seabiscuit: An American Legend'' (2001) and '' Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption'' (2010), have sold over ...

. The film is loosely based on the life and racing career of

Seabiscuit Seabiscuit (May 23, 1933 – May 17, 1947) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-hors ...

, an undersized and overlooked

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

race horse ''Race Horse'' was an 1850 clipper barque. She set a record of 109 days from New York to San Francisco during the first Clipper Race around the Horn. Construction ''Race Horse'' was similar to a barque built by Samuel Hall a few years earlier, ...

, whose unexpected successes made him a hugely popular media sensation in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. At the

76th Academy Awards The 76th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2003 in film, films of 2003 and took place on February 29, 2004, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood ...

, ''Seabiscuit'' received seven nominations, including

Best Picture The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

, but ultimately lost all seven, including six to '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King''.

Plot

In the early 20th century, as America enters the automobile age,

Charles S. Howard Charles Stewart Howard (February 28, 1877 – June 6, 1950) was an American businessman. He made his fortune as an automobile dealer and became a prominent thoroughbred racehorse owner. Biography Howard was dubbed one of the most successful Bui ...

opens a bicycle shop in San Francisco. He is soon selling automobiles, becoming the largest car dealer in California and one of the Bay Area's richest men. In the wake of the

, Canadian John "Red" Pollard's family is financially ruined, and he is sent to live with a horse trainer. Years pass and Pollard becomes a jockey, but amateur boxing leaves him blind in one eye. After their young son is killed in an automobile accident, Howard's wife leaves him. He obtains a divorce in Mexico, where Pollard is struggling to make his mark as a jockey. Howard meets and marries Marcela Zabala. When he acquires a stable of racehorses, he hires itinerant horseman Tom Smith as his trainer. Smith convinces him to buy a colt called

. Though a grandson of the great

Man o' War Man o' War was a thoroughbred racehorse considered an all-time great. Man o' War (or capitalization variations thereof) may also refer to: Animals * Portuguese man o' war, a floating marine animal found in the Atlantic that resembles a jellyfish ...

and trained by the renowned James E. Fitzsimmons, Seabiscuit is viewed as small, lazy, and unmanageable. Smith witnesses Pollard's similarly temperamental spirit, and hires him as Seabiscuit's jockey. Under Smith's innovative training, Seabiscuit becomes the most successful racehorse on the West Coast and an underdog hero to the public. Howard issues a challenge to Samuel D. Riddle, owner of the East Coast champion and Triple Crown-winning racehorse

War Admiral War Admiral (May 2, 1934 – October 30, 1959) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse and the fourth winner of the American Triple Crown. He was also the 1937 Horse of the Year and well known as the rival of Seabiscuit in the "Match Ra ...

, but Riddle dismisses California racing as inferior. In the prestigious

Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up and was once considered the most important race for old ...

, Seabiscuit takes the lead, but Pollard's impaired vision prevents him from noticing another horse surging up on the outside. Losing by a nose, Pollard admits his partial blindness to Smith. Howard declares that Pollard will remain Seabiscuit's jockey, and rallies public support for a

match race A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head. In sailboat racing it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams cons ...

with War Admiral. Riddle agrees, on the condition that they race with a rope and bell instead of a

starting gate A starting gate, also called a starting barrier or starting stalls, is a machine used to ensure a fair start to in horse racing and dog racing. History Throughout the history of horse racing, there have been proposals as to how better to star ...

. With Seabiscuit at a disadvantage, Smith trains the horse to break fast at the sound of the bell. As the race approaches, Pollard severely fractures his leg in a riding accident. Informed he may never walk again, let alone ride, he recommends that his friend and skilled jockey

George Woolf George Monroe Woolf (May 31, 1910 – January 4, 1946), nicknamed "The Iceman", was a Canadian thoroughbred race horse jockey. An annual jockey's award given by the United States Jockeys' Guild is named in his honor. He became known for riding t ...

ride Seabiscuit, advising him on the horse's handling and behavior from his hospital bed. The highly anticipated "race of the century" draws a sellout crowd, with 40 million more people listening on the radio. Seabiscuit takes an early lead until nearing the far turn; following Pollard's advice, Woolf slows Seabiscuit, allowing War Admiral to match Seabicuit's stride. Seabiscuit looks War Admiral in the eye before surging ahead and winning by four lengths, enthralling the nation. A few months later, Seabiscuit injures his leg. Pollard, still recovering from his own injury, tends to the horse as they both heal. When Seabiscuit is fit enough to race again, Howard brings him back to the Santa Anita Handicap; he is reluctant to allow Pollard to ride and risk crippling himself for life. At the urging of Woolf and Marcela, Howard relents. Pollard, using a self-made leg brace, discovers Woolf is also in the race on a new mount. Seabiscuit drops far behind the field; Pollard pulls alongside Woolf, allowing Seabiscuit a good look at Woolf's mount. With Woolf's encouragement, Seabiscuit surges ahead. Heading for the finish line several lengths ahead, Pollard's voiceover explains that Seabiscuit was not merely a broken-down horse that three men fixed, but that Seabiscuit fixed them and, in a way, they fixed one another.

Cast

Release

The film was released on July 25, 2003, by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

. Universal distributed the film in the United States and Canada,

DreamWorks Pictures DreamWorks Pictures (also known as DreamWorks SKG and commonly referred to as DreamWorks) is an American film studio and Film distribution, distribution label of Amblin Partners. It was originally founded on October 12, 1994, as a live-action a ...

through

United International Pictures United International Pictures (UIP) is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures that distributes their films outside the United States and Canada. UIP also had international distribution rights to certain Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M ...

handled distribution in Germany, Scandinavia, and Spain, while

Spyglass Entertainment Spyglass Media Group, LLC is an American independent film and television production and finance company based in Los Angeles, California. The company was founded by Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum on August 21, 1998 as Spyglass Entertainment and ...

acted as pre-sales agent in all other territories. Japanese theatrical distribution was handled by UIP separately from the DreamWorks deal, while

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is affiliated with the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group. Pony Canyo ...

handled home video rights, with

Buena Vista International Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...

purchasing distribution rights in all other territories.

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 78% based on 208 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A life-affirming, if saccharine, epic treatment of a spirit-lifting figure in sports history". On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "A" on a scale of A to F.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, and wrote: "The movie's races are thrilling because they must be thrilling; there's no way for the movie to miss on those, but writer-director Gary Ross and his cinematographer, John Schwartzman, get amazingly close to the action."

Accolades

The film is recognized by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

in these lists: *2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – #50

References

External links

* * * * * {{Authority control 2003 films 2000s sports drama films 2003 drama films American horse racing films American sports drama films DreamWorks Pictures films Films about animals playing sports Films about horses Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Gary Ross Films produced by Frank Marshall Films produced by Kathleen Kennedy Films scored by Randy Newman Films set in the 1920s Films set in the 1930s Films set in the 1940s Films set in Baltimore Films set in San Francisco Films set in Tijuana Films shot in California Films set in Kentucky Films set in California Films shot in Kentucky Films shot in New York (state) Films with screenplays by Gary Ross Great Depression films Sports drama films based on actual events Spyglass Entertainment films The Kennedy/Marshall Company films Universal Pictures films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language sports drama films