Secretariat Movie Review

by Rick Grant
Although this story features probably the greatest race horse in history, Secretariat, it’s not about the horse. The scenario focuses on Secretariat’s owner, tenacious Penny Chenery Tweedy, (Diane Lane) who bravely took over her father’s horse farm after her mother died. Her father was in the last stages of Alzheimer’s. Its a film that has a lot of heart against the background of one of the world’s most prestigious sports.
It was 1969, and Tweedy was a housewife and mother married to a successful lawyer, Jack (Dylan Walsh). At that time, the horse racing business was a man’s world and she was an interloper. The good-ole-boys of horse racing thought she was not smart enough to tangle with the big boys. However, Tweedy stubbornly refused to sell the money-losing farm and plunged into the cutthroat world of horse racing with a natural gift for finance and horse whispering. Of course, the magnificent hunk of rippled muscle and speed, Big Red a.k.a. Secretariat is the engine that drives the excitement of the film.
In a coin-toss decision, Penny loses but gets the colt she wanted. When the colt was born, he was on his feet and moving around much quicker than his handler had ever seen before. Big Red had the makings of a champion right out of the womb.
Tweedy’s crusade to overcome the sexist attitudes that blocked her at every turn the road to the Triple Crown was fraught with obstacles. She had to think creatively to save the farm.
She had figured out that if she could sell shares in Secretariat’s breeding rights, speculating that Secretariat would win the Triple Crown, she could put the horse on the racing circuit and into the Kentucky Derby.
Ah yes, it was a hard sell. She and her staff solicited everyone in the horse racing business and were rejected almost a hundred percent. Finally, some big money gamblers saw the adrenalin rush of betting on a horse that hadn’t yet won anything as a simulating gaming situation. She got her money.
Tweedy hired eccentric trainer, Lucien Laurin, played with scene stealing verve by John Malkovich, to come on-board to train the head strong Secretariat. Laurin saw the potential in the horse, but no one knew if he had the passion to run and beat his rivals.
The consummate acting, smart direction by Randall Wallace, and quality script by the book author, Mark Ciardi and William Nack greatly enhance the overall quality of the film. Michael Rich (Finding Forrester, The Rookie, Miracle and Radio) penned the screenplay.
Golden Globe and Emmy nominated Diane Lane plays Tweedy as a soft spoken woman who hides her brilliant business mind and psychic communication skills with horses to keep her rivals guessing. Lane turned in an exemplary performance.
John Malkovich, who has reached character-actor superstar status uses his oddball wit and his considerable acting skill to create a memorable character as Laurin. With an A-list cast and Disney’s carte blanch production backing, this is an inspiring family movie.
If this movie doesn’t get your adrenalin pumping then you’re dead.