Video Librarian Reviews
After rupturing a suspensory ligament in a prep race in February 1939, Depression-era wonder horse Seabiscuit (dubbed a "masterpiece of faulty construction") was considered finished. But the Biscuit would not only return on March 2, 1940 to race in a contest he had lost twice before--the Santa Anita Handicap (dubbed the "hundred grander" for its comparatively whopping purse)--he would also be ridden by an old friend named Red Pollard, a half-blind jockey with a shattered leg who was told that he would never ride again. Underdog (or horse) stories just don't get any better. Based on Laura Hillenbrand's bestselling book Seabiscuit: An American Legend (and released to tie in with Universal's feature film Seabiscuit starring Tobey Maguire, Chris Cooper, and Jeff Bridges), director Stephen Ives' modest but engaging documentary, which originally aired on PBS's The American Experience, combines solid narration by actor Scott Glenn, interviews (with Hillenbrand, Pollard's daughter, sportscaster Jack Whitaker, and others), and thrilling archival footage of the Biscuit in action, to limn an extraordinary tale of the little horse that could, purchased by Charles Howard in 1936 and trained by the taciturn Tom Smith, who saw something in the thoroughbred that no one else noticed: a potential superstar. DVD extras include an interview with Ives, and a gallery featuring 10 "superhorses." Definitely recommended. Aud: H, C, P. Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2003.