Tucker, a Man and his Horse

If the Oscars are one big horse race, the starting bell has just rung and Seabiscuit, the story of three broken men, a country beaten down by the Depression and the horse that gave them all hope, has taken an early lead coming out of the starting gate.

It's one of those almost-too-inspirational-to-be-true stories. Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges) lost most of his fortune in the stock market crash and his son to a tragic car accident. Tom Smith (Oscar winner Chris Cooper) is a cowboy with a genuine love and understanding of horses, but finds himself ill suited to the modern world of the 1930s. Johnny "Red" Pollard's (Tobey Maguire) parents left him to earn a living at a racetrack when they could no longer support their entire family. A good jockey, but considered too tall to be a great one, Red supports himself by boxing and taking whatever work he can find at the track.

When Howard decides he wants to own a racehorse, he shuns the successful trainers and instead hires the down and out Smith who, in turn, takes a chance on a horse that everyone else has written off. Despite a classy pedigree, Seabiscuit is small and reputed to be "incorrigible," meaning he doesn't respond well to being beaten. Smith sees promise in the feisty horse, particularly when paired with Pollard, a jockey whose own wounded soul finds something to connect with in the underestimated Seabiscuit.

What's he so pumped about? The horse did all the work.

The three men bring out the best in the horse and each other. And as Seabiscuit's confidence and reputation grow, a weary, dispirited nation finds an underdog to root for.

It's quite a story, really, but writer/director Gary Ross (Pleasantville), working from Laura Hillenbrand's acclaimed book, tells it a little too unevenly to make it a complete success.

There's a lot to like here, don't get me wrong. The relationships between the three men, particularly Howard and Pollard, are delicate and intriguing, especially as brought to life by three gifted actors. Cooper gives Smith a quiet decency. Maguire will break your heart with Pollard's desperate pride. And Jeff Bridges is brilliant as the rich man who, as much as any of the other characters, needs a second chance. He's a born salesman, relentlessly upbeat, but Bridges allows us to see so much more than that with just a subtle change of expression. What's truly lovely about these characters, both as written and acted, is that their feelings are never spelled out but we know them anyway.

The racing scenes are thrilling and John Schwartzman's cinematography is beautiful.   Where the movie falters is in its too episodic storytelling. Scenes crop up, often with little relationship to what came before. There's also some slow pacing, particularly in the early sections where we're getting to know the characters. The movie feels about fifteen minutes too long.

"I don't know, Tom, I think we'd better call the Horse Whisperer."

Narration by historian David McCullough puts the story in context, but with mixed results. There were times when it was too much and I felt I was being told things that I could just as easily see onscreen. On the other hand, there were also scenes, the ending in particular, which could have benefited from narration but didn't get any.

Ross has a tendency to get a little schmaltzy at times, but I didn't really mind that here. I've seen so many flashy, cynical movies this summer that a simple, inspirational story seems remarkably refreshing. Seabiscuit may not have what it takes to be standing in the winner's circle come Oscar night, but it definitely makes a strong showing in the home stretch.

Gorilla Pants rating: 2.5 out of 4 bananas