Rating:  

Fast Track Productions, Mayhem Pictures, and Walt Disney Pictures.

Written by: Mike Rich, adapted from William Nack’s novel, “Secretariat: The Making Of A Champion”.

The amazing and incredible story of Secretariat, the Triple Crown winning throughbred who captivated people around the world in 1973, arrives on the big screen courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures. It would seem that Disney telling the Secretariat story is a perfect match as the Secretariat story, one of the sporting world’s most amazing and enduring achievements, also stands as a purely inspirational one, both on the racetrack and off. And while the film is watchable and engaging, its struggle in finding a focal point hinders it from achieving something nearly as memorable as its subject matter.

With the sudden death of her mother, Penny Chenery (Diane Lane), must return home to the Chenery family’s farm, make arrangements for her mother’s funeral, and spend time with her ailing father, Christopher. Soon after arriving, Penny sees that the Chenery stable and farm is hemorrhaging money and in danger of not sustaining itself. In her role as housewife and mother of four, Penny reasons with her husband, Jack (Dylan Walsh), and their children that she needs to stay a couple of weeks on the farm to get things back in order. Penny soon gains the trust of her father’s longtime assistant, Mrs. Hamm (Margo Martindale), and after firing a shady trainer, Penny assumes the responsibilities of maintaining the daily operations of the farm. Overseeing her father’s debilitating health and faced with the strain these new responsibilities place on her marriage and her time away from her children, Penny resiliently tackles all the immediate challenges of getting the farm back on track.

As difficult as it is for Penny to balance marriage and family, her father, the brother who wants to sell everything and walk away (Dylan Baker), as well as the farm’s financial woes, another issue arises with an upcoming coin toss between the Chenerys and wealthy philanthropist and breeder Ogden Phipps (James Cromwell). The coin tosses were common between Phipps and Chenery, as they would flip to decide who would lay claim to foals yet to be born. As history tells us, with this particular coin toss Phipps’ success and confidence led him astray as he made a selection which allowed Secretariat to remain with the Chenery family. Needing a trainer, Penny finds Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich), a frazzled and semi-retired thoroughbred trainer, who initially rejects Penny’s offer. Compelled by Penny’s seeking him out and with Lucien’s life’s passion staring him directly in the face, he cannot resist the opportunity to go all in on training a horse that Penny is convinced may truly be something special.

And the rest they say is history, and well-documented history at that. Secretariat was simply peerless in the world he inhabited. His unbelievable victory in the third leg of the Triple Crown, by 31 lengths, is still to this day a Belmont track record and downright unfathomable. And as incredible as Secretariat’s physical achievements and gifts were on the track, Penny’s tenacity and determined nature is equally as incredible off of it. Trying to make that distinction unfortunately causes the film’s foundation to crack and fracture.

Mike Rich’s screenplay basically understands that Penny and Secretariat both need their stories told and director Randall Wallace gets a rich and layered performance from Diane Lane as Penny. Her story of overcoming gender prejudice, personal adversity, and then rising to the top of an “All Boys Club” world of horse breeders and owners is important and should be heralded. And yet, this is Walt Disney Pictures. And as with much of Walt Disney’s live action and prestige-type movies, they make real sure that this is a safe movie. Am I really criticizing a film for being PG and geared towards families? No, not exactly.

The problem is not in the rating or wanting to make a film that appeals to an entire family. Rather, a big problem with the Disney telling of Penny Chenery’s story, every bump in the road and every difficult twist and turn Penny must endure is glossed over with a dismissive tone that amputates and subdues the power of her accomplishments. For me, and perhaps you as well, Penny Chenery is a much more important figure in Secretariat’s story than someone who made a couple of lucky guesses, won a coin toss, and smiles ever so pretty when her horse sets unbeatable track records. She faced real adversity and beat insurmountable odds for who she was, who she was attempting to be, and the environment in which she achieved it. Wallace and Mike Rich and Walt Disney’s formula with important message movies, leaves Penny’s story slight and largely emotionless.

So instead, we focus on Secretariat and here the movie finds great power and inspiration. Although much of the excitement is crammed into the final third of the film (sigh), these sequences of Secretariat’s Triple Crown victories are breathtaking. Seeing Secretariat make his move in the Belmont is exhilarating. Here, we get it. The majesty of the race, the importance of what’s at stake, and the excitement is palpable in every one of these final scenes. Kudos should be given to the entire below-the-line crew for their work on the film in sound, editing, score, cinematography, etc.

As John Malkovich gives a terrific supporting performance as Lucien, and while other supporting appearances by James Cromwell as Ogden Phipps, Margo Martindale as the loyal Mrs. Hamm, and former Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson as family friend Bull Hancock all hit nice notes, I kept coming back to Diane Lane and Penny Chenery. The answer I could not come up with was to the question of why I was not feeling more for her journey and success. I admire Penny and respect her tremendously. Truth be told, however, it was reading about her after seeing the film that I finally connected with Penny. Diane Lane is great in this movie but the on-screen Penny Chenery is held back, distant enough to admire but not close enough to really get behind. It is a major disappointment that between Randall Wallace’s directing and Mike Rich’s screenplay, a balance could not be achieved between the two compelling stories their lead characters experienced. Chenery, on screen, simply deserves more.

Many will see “Secretariat” and be moved and some may be brought to tears. In my audience, people cheered and applauded when the film ended and I do like the film overall. What I cannot rationalize is how this movie winds up being a little better than average and nothing all that memorable. At the end of the day, “Secretariat” is a fine and acceptable family movie that tells the tale of two unconventional figures from American sports history in a most ordinary and conventional way.

Should I See It?

A family film for everyone with an attention span, “Secretariat” is entertaining and has a thrilling final half hour or so that will make you feel good. Not a lot of films do that anymore!

Carries a nostalgic feel in how its told. Fans of the era and time period (1968-1974) will like the attention to detail in tone and appearance.

Secretariat’s story has been needing to be told on the big screen for a long, long time.

Great acting performances are never a bad thing and with Diane Lane and John Malkovich especially, this movie reaps some great rewards in that regard.

While family-friendly, it takes a long time to get to the excitement of the Triple Crown races, and the younger movie fans watching this may be bored out of their minds.

This movie is fine but this should have been epic. Penny Chenery is so much more than what this movie makes her out to be. And while I applaud Disney for giving us another strong female character in a time when we need them in our films, Chenery is sold short on her accomplishments. I just wonder if this will rub some people the wrong way.

“Seabiscuit” is still a better overall film, despite the excitement found here in the final minutes.

Some, I imagine, will find this movie empty and formulaic. It embodies the standard Disney sports story approach of simplifying everything down to a refined and easily digestible narrative. Sigh.