It’s time for a big drama film. This one’s definitely long so they have time to cover a whole lot of ground. It’s a pretty interesting film about just how hard it can be to compete in horse races. The characters may not always be the greatest and the film has some pacing problems but on the whole they do a good job with this one. By the end of the adventure you will definitely have no doubts on the legacy of Seabiscuit. Definitely one of those horses who fought hard all the way through to the end.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Charles who ends up becoming super rich when he gets into the car business. This guy had serious talent as a seller and was also very innovative. He managed to succeed in completely changing the business landscape. When the great depression hit, lots of families were affected though and Red’s parents end up having to leave him alone. Red has a tough time growing up as he loses in horse racing and boxing. Well, one day, Charles gives him a chance as the guy has decided to get into the horse business. He gets a horse named Seabiscuit and is eager to see just how far he can get. The horse is deemed by everyone to not be ready for this level of competition but Charles has never listened to the experts before and doesn’t intend to do so now. He will follow his instincts to the end. He even brings in Red to ride the horse.

Naturally the guy is considered to be an underdog. Seabiscuit is just missing the competitive fire to win after being messed with for so long and Red has a massive chip on his shoulder that is always holding him back. Red just isn’t willing to back off and sacrifices races when he’s crossed. In a way both of these fighters will have to surpass the odds and Charles has dreams of them even defeating the legendary Mr. Riddle and becoming the best horse in all the world. Is such a thing even possible?

It’s different from other dreams after all. If you want to be the best Tennis player in the world, at least you are playing the matches yourself. In a setup like this you have to count on the jockey, the horse, and everyone else to do their parts. You can’t win this on your own talent alone. So Charles may be a great business man and he’s been around the block but for this reason I would say this is his most difficult challenge yet. I appreciate that he is always patient and tries to look on the bright side of things though. It’s not always the easiest thing to pull off. He did rebound a bit quickly on the romance side though.

Meanwhile the coach Tom may have been the best character here. He did a really good job of constantly researching the opponents and giving good advice. Additionally, he was kind to the animals and didn’t want to destroy them just because they couldn’t compete anymore. He definitely did really well throughout the film so I have no qualms with him. Naturally Seabiscuit was also a lot of fun. Definitely a tough horse but it makes sense when we see how all the races were rigged for Seabiscuit to lose back in the day. That had to be rough.

As for Red, he’s the weakest of the main characters. The guy messes up way too often. He had a rough upbringing after leaving his folks so I can get the first bit of things but he doesn’t really learn his lessons. When he gets depressed he wastes money and has pointless affairs instead of improving his skills. I think that’s the worst part about the guy. If he used even half of that drive to make himself a better jockey then I would have way more respect for him. The fact is that he is easily rattled. Not telling his team that he only had partial vision was also really selfish of him.

I would say that the gravity of the situation doesn’t really get to him until the end of the film and by then it ends up being a little too late for him. The guy is determined by the end so I will give him that at least. His friend who helps out in the climax definitely felt like the better jockey overall though. He felt way more professional as if he was always in control. With him I think Seabiscuit would have won even more races but of course Red is still good in his own right. He did well in creating bonds, I just think this guy was still even better.

Meanwhile Riddle made for a pretty good opponent. I do wonder if there were any scandals about him being responsible for rider injuries though because if not then that was definitely a bold play on the film’s part. I liked him quite a bit as the antagonist. The guy may have come across as cruel but he’s just being a good businessman. You don’t want to take on all challengers because you have way more to lose than to gain. I also imagine that travelling too often will weaken the horse as well. Now the guy also did seem nervous so it’s a mixed bag for him but overall this is the kind of opponent that you want to have.

I’m not well versed in horse racing at all but the final level did feel a bit cheesy with how weak the world champion horse looked. I would have expected a lot more pop out of him and for this to not have even been close. Instead, Seabiscuit was the one who had to be slowed down at one point after the huge lead. I’d be surprised if that’s how things really played out. I’d also figure that the faster horse would just be dominating but I suppose that part’s also different from human racing in that there is more to it than that. You have to ensure that the horse constantly runs at full power or you could lose a race that you might’ve won.

That said, I can never support animal racing like this irl. It seems way too tough on the horse and naturally I don’t support all the hitting in order to make them go faster. It all seems barbaric and in general I don’t like seeing animals in any activity. The finished product might look fun but the road there is often really intense. The best horse might be treated really well but the ones who lose could be in for a tough time.

Overall, While this film may not get me into horse racing, it does a good job of showing how technical the whole process is. There is a lot of strategy put into every different part of the sport so it has complexities like any other. You could probably trim a lot of the fluff out of the film and it would flow better so just know ahead of time that this is a pretty long one. If you like horse racing then you should have good fun here and if you don’t, then you’d probably want to skip it. That’s ultimately the make or break point. The film sure gets a lot more right than wrong though.