Secretariat Review
By David Kempler
Secretariat Finishes Up The Track
Secretariat was a great racehorse - arguably the greatest ever. His story captured the hearts of America in 1973, when he won horse racing's Triple Crown. In retrospect, it seems curious that there never was a film made of the happenings of this feel-good story. Don't worry, though, Disney is here to bring it to us now. It's a shame that they felt the need to dress it up into a quasi-religious experience.
Director Randall Wallace steers the film but it is impossible to decipher for certain whose idea it was to give a higher meaning to everything about this truly remarkable colt. While he certainly ably moves the story along, there are very few scenes that aren't determined to tug at our heartstrings until they are ripped out of our chests.
Penny Chenery (Diane Lane) is a housewife with a brood of kids and a successful husband. They live in a Spielberg-typical, suburban, well-to-do setting. At least they do for the first five minutes we see them. Everything changes when word comes that Penny's mother has passed away. So it's off to her roots, which in this case is a horse breeding farm in Kentucky. Her father, played by Scott Glenn, is on the edge of feeble-minded, and the farm is in danger of going under. It's clear that it's all going to fall into Penny's lap, and she heroically rises to the occasion.
Her first act as boss is to find a trainer for her horses and she is directed to Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich, playing it to the hilt as a quirky French speaking gent). Together they form an unlikely combination in that circle, but it really doesn't matter because the star of the show is an equine named Secretariat, more affectionately known as Big Red.
We get our first preview of the greatness on the horizon when Secretariat is being bathed by his groom. Next to the pair is a radio playing "Oh, Happy Day". Penny immediately 'sees the light' and is drawn to the scene. I couldn't help but chuckle at that point. More scenes follow in a similar vein.
The overall feeling one is left with while watching "Secretariat" and afterwards, is that everyone is trying really hard to do a good job. The problem is that the effort is so visible. "Secretariat" looks good, has some mighty fine acting talent, hits the required notes at the required times, but in the end it comes up short, which ironically, is an insult to a horse that always came up big.
