We were not really thorough in our preparation for this year’s Academy Awards – partly by choice, partly because not all nominated movies had been shown in Germany yet, and partly caused by lack of financial and temporal resources. For Seabiscuit both reasons number one and three are applicable. Nonetheless, we got it on DVD a few days ago, and proceeded to watch it without much hesitation. It was a nice enough experience. Some US American Pathos (including a interesting bow to Keynesian political economy), some typical sports movie features, but mostly a good story with really excellent actors. Tobey Maguire probably is my favorite youngish actor, while Chris Cooper has the incredible talent to play even very diverse and totally different characters in the most convincing manner. The screenplay is good and it seemed to refrain from overdramatizing the ‘true story’ of the horse Seabiscuit. It was a relief that they did not introduce some unhappy love affair or chilling crime story elements to pep up the story.
IMDb entry | Trailer
Tags: Chris Cooper, Oscar, Tobey Maguire