My wife watched Seabiscuit last night, and enjoyed it, despite being niggled by what she saw as an unresolved plot point:
About halfway through the movie, Red (Toby McGuire) asks Jeff Bridges if he can borrow $10. Bridges asks why, and McGuire says he needs the money for dentistry, but looks shifty while saying it. Bridges smiles and gives him the money, and McGuire promises to pay him back “when we start winning”.
It didn’t come up again in the movie (unless my wife missed it) so- what did he need the $10 for?
I took him at his word, that he needed it for dentistry. I thought he was testing the bounds of his relationship with Howard by asking for money to get by and making it clear that he didn’t know when he’d be able to repay it. I think he was more ashamed than shifty.
I saw it a little differently. I thought he went to an eye doctor instead, to confirm his blindness in one eye. It was left as a mystery, as though the rest of that plot piece was left on the editing room floor. I liked the movie, and I didn’t feel that loose end hurt the overall story.
I agree that he was testing the relationship. Shortly afterwards he was racing and said “it’s all right now”. I think he let go of some of his anger because he no longer felt so alone.