'Seabiscuit:' Yet another reason to read

Three men suffering through the hardships of the Great Depression find solace in a common good. Strangely, the lynchpin that holds these downtrodden figures together happens to be of the equine variety. "Seabiscuit," as adapted from the beautifully written book by Laura Hillenbrand, is both a story of these men succeeding in the face of adversity and that of its titular character -- a diminutive racehorse with more personality than many folks on this campus.\nAuto magnate Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges) is reeling from the loss of his son; tight-lipped horseman Tom Smith (Chris Cooper) is finding his old West lifestyle slipping away in favor of modernity and jockey, prizefighter and sometime wordsmith Johnny "Red" Pollard (Tobey Maguire) is suffering abandonment issues in wake of parting ways with his newly impoverished family. Together, as owner, trainer and rider respectively, the triumvirate not only found success, but also a page in the history books alongside their legendary four-legged friend.\nHillenbrand's heavenly piece of non-fiction is a small story told on a grand scale. In adapting the book, writer/director Gary Ross (best known for having written and directed the appropriately titled "Pleasantville") had to pare away many of the book's finer details. Snippets involving jockeys taking neck-deep baths in fresh horse manure to shed pounds or the juicier tidbits revolving around Pollard and Co.'s stints in a Tijuana whorehouse are sadly excised. Yet, other nuances remain; in one of the film's funnier moments, Seabiscuit forcefully removes a goat -- his would-be stallmate -- via a mouth-based lob. A story such as "Seabiscuit" would have been better served by mini-series treatment ala HBO's retooling of the late, great Stephen Ambrose's "Band of Brothers." Character arcs are abbreviated amongst all the primaries, and even peripheral figures such as fabled jockey George Woolf (played by real-life jockey, Gary Stevens) get the short shrift.\nDespite these quibbles, the flick's still a class act. Maguire, relegating his "Spider-Man" tights in favor of jockey garb, is convincing. Having lost much of his superhero bulk and dyed his locks red, he looks the part, and hits the right emotional notes to boot. Bridges is appropriately affable, as Howard was essentially a nice guy with deep pockets and a keen sense of PR. Cooper turns-in nice, subtle work as Smith, but Ross's script sadly betrays the character with far too much dialogue -- the man was notoriously taciturn. Providing ample support are Stevens, Elizabeth Banks (seen previously to hilarious effect in "Wet Hot American Summer") as Howard's kind-hearted second wife and William H. Macy as a fictitious, loud-mouthed radio announcer. The cinematography by John Schwartzman (half-brother of actor, Jason, i.e. Max Fisher) is lushly vibrant, nowhere more so than in the film's kinetic and all-together convincing race sequences. And aside from his slight misuse of Seabiscuit and Smith, Ross has crafted a briskly paced 2 hour and 20 minute feel-good spectacle that's sure to leave audiences (at least those who haven't read the book) cheering. His attention to period detail must also be commended.\n3-1 this horse is taking home Oscar gold come next year.