Pick of the Week: "Seabiscuit" DVD

"Seabiscuit," based on the best-selling nonfiction book by Laura Hillenbrand, is one of the most entertaining films I've seen in a long time. Featuring fine performances by Jeff Bridges, Tobey Maguire, and Chris Cooper, it's a terrific piece of Americana. I really enjoyed watching the movie on DVD, which also provides a number of worthwhile bonus materials.

"Seabiscuit" is set in the world of horseracing, so I expected a cinematic film with exciting footage, and the movie delivered on those expectations. But I was pleasantly surprised at how emotionally involving the film was. It seemed to me what made this movie so good was that it was really about second chances.

The film tells the interlocking stories of three very different men, each of whom is at a low point in his life. The lives of the three intersect when they try to make a winner out of an undersized thoroughbred racehorse who performed so poorly in his early years that everyone else gave up on him. As the horse begins to win, the lives of the three men turn around. Meanwhile, the American general public, beaten down by the Great Depression, takes a fancy to the smallish, nondescript-looking thoroughbred—they see him as a symbol of hope.

I'm afraid some contemporary viewers will be a little put off by the deliberate pacing of the early part of "Seabiscuit," but trust me, it's worth being patient because this is a film that makes you care about its characters. It's an old-fashioned, Hollywood movie that ultimately tells a rip-roaring good story, and I dare you not to be moved when Seabiscuit leads the pack across the finish line, his silk-clad jockey standing in the stirrups, whip held aloft in victory. Although I find this a little embarrassing to admit, I fought back tears more than once while watching this film.

For me, one of the best things about "Seabiscuit" is the screen-presence and performances of its three male leads: Jeff Bridges, Tobey Maguire, and Chris Cooper. Bridges plays Seabiscuit's owner, Charles Howard, a man who started with nothing and made a fortune selling Buicks in the San Francisco area. Maguire portrays Seabiscuit's principal jockey, "Red" Pollard, a scrappy young man who has to battle his way back from a devastating injury. Cooper plays Seabiscuit’s trainer, Tom Smith, an aging former cowboy who has a mysterious way with horses. In addition to the humans in the movie, I also found the equine title character quite charismatic, and I wondered who took that role. The answer, according to the Production Notes on the DVD, is that the immortal Seabiscuit is played in the film by 10 different horses.

I believe what makes "Seabiscuit" so poignant is the relationship between owner Charles Howard and jockey Red Pollard. Howard lost a son because of a tragic accident, and Pollard was pushed out of his home as a teenager by his father for economic reasons. Thus, I found it deeply emotionally satisfying in the movie that Pollard becomes Howard’s surrogate son and Howard becomes Pollard’s surrogate father.

The "Seabiscuit" DVD comes with a number of special features, and I have listed these below.

Selected Special Features:

• Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)
• English 5.1 Surround
• English Captions for the Hearing Impaired
• French Subtitles
• Spanish Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Director Gary Ross and Filmmaker Steven Soderbergh
• Bringing the Legend to Life: The Making of "Seabiscuit"
• Seabiscuit: Racing Through History
• Anatomy of a Movie Moment With Director Gary Ross
• Photo Finish: Jeff Bridges’ on the Set Photographs
• Cast & Filmmakers
• Production Notes
• Buick Promo
• "Seabiscuit" Soundtrack Spot
• Mastercard Spot
• DVD-ROM Features