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Film based on Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling book, which in turn was based on
a true story about a mistreated and mishandled horse that became a symbol of
hope for America during the Great Depression. Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges), a
successful automobile salesman, buys the horse hoping for a distraction, and he
hires a caring trainer (Chris Cooper) and a half-blind, ex-boxer jockey (Tobey
Maguire) who's as angry and frustrated as the horse. Together the unlikely trio
lead the knobbly-kneed Seabiscuit to his 1938 win of the Horse of the Year
honors and turn him into an inspiration for millions of people. Also with
Elizabeth Banks and William H. Macy. Directed by Gary Ross. [2:20]
SEX/NUDITY 4 - A man and a woman lie in their underwear in bed
together, the woman stands up and takes off her top (we see her bare back) and
the man admires her. Men and women in their underwear play horse race (women
carry men on their backs and run down a hallway). Men and women dance together
in a bar scene. A man is lifted up to drink liquor from a woman's cleavage.
Prostitutes are shown talking, flirting and caressing men. Pictures (drawings)
of scantily-clad women hang on a wall and we see bare breasts on one. Women wear
dresses that reveal cleavage. A man says to another man "everything gets longer
in the re-telling."
VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - We see the wreckage of a car and a man holding
his dead son and grieving. A man is thrown off a horse, his foot is caught and
he is dragged for a great distance, he slams into a wall, falls to the ground
unconscious and we see his twisted broken leg (there's blood on his pant leg and
we hear that his leg was shattered). We see several boxing matches: many punches
are exchanged, we see men with bloody cuts on their faces and being knocked out
(one remains unconscious for a while). Two jockeys fight while racing: they whip
each other and one is shoved off his horse, two others fight and exchange
punches. A horse is beaten with a whip, and a horse struggles violently against
men with ropes and one man with a gun, and we hear that the horse is going to be
killed because he has a broken foot; we also hear about the mistreatment of a
horse. A man fights with a group of men and swings a bucket at them, and a man
shoves a man into a horse stall and throws a shovel at him. A horse bites a
piece of a man's shirt off, and a horse kicks, bucks and struggles against men
with ropes and kicks a stall door angrily. A horse is injured during a race and
a man says that he "...can put him down." A goat flies out of a stall and runs
away (apparently kicked out by a horse). During a bullfight we see a bloodied
bull with several banderillas (brightly colored wooden sticks)
sticking out of his neck and shoulders. There are several tense scenes during
races and in one scene where a horse and rider race along a darkened track. A
horse is startled in a few scenes and darts off. A man makes himself vomit by
sticking fingers down his throat and we hear him gagging.
PROFANITY 5 - 1 possible F-word (during a struggle between
jockeys), 13 scatological terms, 26 mild obscenities, 5 religious profanities, 7
religious exclamations. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Family, second chances, automobiles, the Great
Depression, assembly lines, dreams, winning, migration, death of a child,
friendship, abandonment, competition, separation of family, poverty, government
works programs.
MESSAGE - Don't throw a whole life away just because of one
perceived fault; we all deserve a second chance.
(Note: People are shown drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes.)
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