LW, at the expense of engaging in cliche, I'll say the obvious, that art, in its effort to get at the truth frequently must ignore the facts and resort to fiction.
Gore Vidal has always supported the fact that fiction documents the past in a more revealing examination of the truth. Facts often mask the truth.
Re: Seabiscuit. What the hell kind of movie is this?
What? No wires? No flipping cartwheels? No characters flying? No anthropomorphized robots? No computer generated scenery? No endless slaughter of anykind?
Dialogue almost completely without four letter words! Dialogue that is understandable! A strong, dramatic story line! Developed characters. A comic relief character brilliantly played by William Macy.
It'll never make it.
Actually there is some CGI in "Seabiscuit," but you certainly aren't aware of it. I also love the Bill Macy character as the newscaster and it was a real person whose sportscasting was a lot more inventive that anything we have today -- by comparison, sportscasting is so staid and stoic to be nearly boring. Is this a movie you'd like to see again and again over the years? I think so.
It's at 95.6M in US box office now and hasn't been released internationally. With some Oscar nominations, it could easily reach 150M, a respectable figure. Anyone here have it on their DVD to buy list?
It's topped the 100M barrier and its international release is eminent. Anyone care to predict its final gross?
Interesting that this seems to be a film that seems to be pulling the horse crowd, but then doesn't give them what they want. They know about Seabiscuit, and don't like the fiddling with history. A lot of them are getting word of mouth about this through their clubs and aren't going. People who aren't into horses aren't going because they think it's a horse film.
This comes from a series of conversations with friends this weekend - one group horse people/ one not. I had 2 13-year-old horse freaks lecturing me about this on Saturday.
Trying to market this film must have been tricky - do you try to go after the horse people or the Tobey Maguire fans?
I'm torn - I'm interested in horses, love Jeff Bridges, am interested in William Macy's work. I originally thought I'd like to see this, but am too uneasy that I'd be frustrated by it to go to the theatre.
My brother-in-law wasn't going to see it because he wasn't especially interested in horses. I told him it wasn't strictly about horse racing, it was about a group of people under a strong, central leadership making a miracle out of what appeared to be a loser. There are things left out of the film and I understand are in the book in detail and by research it is as factual as it possibly can be. I've ordered the book. I think Jeff Bridges, Toby McQuire and Oscar winner Chris Cooper are a draw for their fans. If you go and see it and aren't so exhilerated by the time the War Admiral race flashes across the screen, I'd see my family doctor about tired blood.
