Secretariat (2010)

Sorry, this movie sucks

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

A nice feel-good family film along the lines of Seabiscuit but without any of the drama. The cast is fantastic and a great setting in the late 1960's. I just keep wanting to say nice, I mean nothing awful happens to anyone here except for a tooth abscess and a bit of sexism but I still found it interesting. Tracing the origins of the "greatest race horse too ever live" from inception through his triple crown win.There's actually not much attention paid to "Big Red" it mostly follows his owner 'Penny' (played brilliantly by Diane lane) a housewife who inherits her ailing fathers stables and her struggles in a male dominated sport, juggling a career and family.The attention to the issues of the time is well done. I can't find any faults, a definite feel good movie the whole family can enjoy. 03/09/14

Housewife Penny Chenery (Diane Lane) has to take over her family's Meadow Stables from her sick father after her mother's death. She's the quintessential underdog in the world of horse breeding. With the help of trainer Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich), she produces the most important horse in recent history ultimately the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years.There are some questions about the truth in this movie. Although I have sympathies for the complaint, modern audiences have to set aside their naivety. Unless the movie is labeled a documentary, there isn't any good complaining about authenticity.This is a very good traditional underdog movie. Of course, everything is against them. I'm sure Disney has smooth out all the rough edges. I'm sure they just plain thrown out the rough edges. Diane Lane is great as the smart gutsy heroine. All the basics of David versus Goliath are properly included. There is nothing unsuspected to derail this.

I don't care if you were around at the time or not, knowing how the story turns out doesn't make it any less exciting or inspirational. In 1972, the name Secretariat was every bit as ubiquitous as that of Muhammad Ali who's also mentioned by name in the picture. The only thing you weren't aware of back then, sports fan or not, was the story of owner Penny Chenery (Diane Lane), who's destiny rode on a coin toss and a dream. In a way, this one could have been called 'The Chenery Story' for it's emphasis on one person's devotion to a father's legacy and a determination to succeed in the face of adversity. With Disney Studios at the helm, you needn't worry about questionable language or suggestively explicit scenes. This is the story of a winner with a message - you never know how far you can go unless you run.

As someone who lived right in the middle of the whole Secretariat story, I have to say that the real life events were much more glorious than the movie. Secretariat was a larger than life animal, a Pegasus in the flesh. I have to agree with Ben Lapke's review that the movie was about Mrs. Chenery (then Mrs Tweedy) and as someone who knows and respects her for the lady that she is, if she liked the movie then that's good enough for me. Its certainly not the movie that all of us in the racing and breeding business hoped would be made about this greatest horse of the second half of the 20th Century but I think that's more due to the movie's budget. I'm sorry but you just can't substitute the backstretch of bush track Evangeline Downs for Belmont Park. The broken down barns and rusted out pick-up trucks visible while the Belmont was being run down the backstretch in the movie were embarrassing for all of us who watched that most astounding of performances in the third leg of the Triple Crown. For horse lovers, this was something akin to a religious experience; for a horse to win the first Triple Crown in 25 years by 31 lengths and lower the track record by 2 seconds (setting a new World Record in the process) was amazing. I just hope that at some point in the future, the REAL story of Secretariat will be told.