I'm not a fan of horse racing, but you'd be hard put to find anyone who loved the horse Secretariat as much I did. "Big Red," as he was known, seemed to be able to fly, and when he was autopsied, it was learned that his heart was twice the size of normal horses. He was an amazing champion.
"Secretariat" isn't really the story of Secretariat as much as it is the story of his owner, Peggy Chenery Tweedy, very well played here by Diane Lane. I'm sure it's a somewhat romanticized version, but it's certainly true that Chenery loved and believed in Secretariat. John Malkovich plays his trainer, Lucien Laurin, and he's wonderful.
The film has an unnecessary good guy-bad guy set-up for the races, with an evil owner sure that Secretariat will lose. There's the sentimentality that goes along with a Disney story, and the idea of the little guy coming from behind.
I liked this movie, but I don't feel it does the great Secretariat justice. One of the races, the one shown on television, was an actual race. If you want to cry, check out Big Red's races on Youtube. In one of the races (I can't remember which one) the CBS clock said that Secretariat had broken a record, but the official clock did not. As Mrs. Tweedy said in an interview, the official clock time had to be used. I'm sure she feels (as I do) that Secretariat had indeed broken another record.
Secretariat died too young from laminitis, the same illness that killed Barbaro. He will always be one of the greatest horses in history. There is a wonderful documentary about him which I recommend, as well as the documentary "The First Saturday in May." Just think about Ron Turcotte, wondering why it was so quiet as he raced Big Red, why he couldn't hear the other horses. When he turned around to look, the other horses were way, way behind. That was Secretariat. A frontrunner. Pegasus.
"Secretariat" isn't really the story of Secretariat as much as it is the story of his owner, Peggy Chenery Tweedy, very well played here by Diane Lane. I'm sure it's a somewhat romanticized version, but it's certainly true that Chenery loved and believed in Secretariat. John Malkovich plays his trainer, Lucien Laurin, and he's wonderful.
The film has an unnecessary good guy-bad guy set-up for the races, with an evil owner sure that Secretariat will lose. There's the sentimentality that goes along with a Disney story, and the idea of the little guy coming from behind.
I liked this movie, but I don't feel it does the great Secretariat justice. One of the races, the one shown on television, was an actual race. If you want to cry, check out Big Red's races on Youtube. In one of the races (I can't remember which one) the CBS clock said that Secretariat had broken a record, but the official clock did not. As Mrs. Tweedy said in an interview, the official clock time had to be used. I'm sure she feels (as I do) that Secretariat had indeed broken another record.
Secretariat died too young from laminitis, the same illness that killed Barbaro. He will always be one of the greatest horses in history. There is a wonderful documentary about him which I recommend, as well as the documentary "The First Saturday in May." Just think about Ron Turcotte, wondering why it was so quiet as he raced Big Red, why he couldn't hear the other horses. When he turned around to look, the other horses were way, way behind. That was Secretariat. A frontrunner. Pegasus.