Just because a life gets beat up a little doesn’t mean you throw it away. The true story of three men and one horse that have been down and out in their lives and the tale of their rise to the top once more. Red Pollard had a happy childhood as he lived on a huge piece of land with his family and learned to ride horses and found a love for the great classics and reading in such stories as The Arabian Nights. But his luck and the luck of his family came crashing down with the infamous stock market crash in 1929. Now forced to live out of their car like so many others the father still wishes for his son to have success. When a local trainer discovers that Red has a wonderful ability as a jockey and great knowledge of horses his father sends him off to live with the trainer but his luck doesn’t change much as he doesn’t win the races. He finds himself in Mexico mucking together a life when his world is about to change once more. Charles Howard once a bicycle repairman who got rich and famous repairing automobiles that became famous at the turn of the century is looking to change his life and maybe take back to his roots of horses. For this he will need a jockey, and a trainer and even more importantly a horse. He is about to find the trainer in the most unlikely of places as Tom Smith had become too old to train and took to living in the bushes. But Charles who is already on his second chance is willing to take a chance on him. So with his help they look for a horse that could become a winner and they find Seabiscuit. Seabiscuit is a wild horse that almost looks untamable but shows the spirit and heart that Smith wants in a horse. He is small and walks with an odd gait but he is also cheap to own. But now the problem is finding a jockey who can actually race the horse as he wild and untamed. And this is where Red comes in as he is just wild and untamed and shows the same spirit and heart that the horse is already shown. So a group of long shots prepare to take on the world and prove that everyone deserves a second chance. So with a horse to small, a jockey to big, a trainer to old, and a owner who is too dumb to know the difference the four of them are about to change the sport of horse racing forever and give hope to those who were once down and out like them.

Very few movies inspire such emotion that members of the audience actually clap and cheer at the screen forgetting it is just a movie. But this movie is one of them as the audience I saw the movie with did actually cheer on Seabiscuit in one of his most famous wins of all time. The movie may be about horseracing but it is more than that. It is about hope, it is about second chances, it is about rooting for the underdog and most importantly it is about everyone getting a second chance and proving that they can reach the sky and accomplish all their dreams. It is hard to not be moved by this film as it is about so many thing that most people wish and dream for and everyone likes to root for the underdog. The acting wasn’t that great at times and came off as forced and over the top but this movie is about the story and is so good because of this incredible real story that just blows you away. It also really nice to see some more dramas as this summer as been completely dominated by one action/adventure movie after another. Diversity is the spice of life and its nice to have different types of movies to watch. This is the kind of movie that will have you on your seat in anticipation and on the grips of reality through out. And while the ending is what you would expect it to be it is still hard to not be pleased with this wonderful movie.
4 stars out of 5