The Disney Studios are known for a lot of things, including their real-life sports movies, such as “Miracle”, “The Rookie” and “Invincible”. The latest to join this team is the true story of the greatest racehorse of all-time and the housewife who owned him.
I realize most adults, even if they’re not die-hard horse racing fans, know what Secretariat did during his career. But I’m sure many people, including most kids, don’t know the story so I’m not going to give anything away.
One of the big surprises, for me, is that the film doesn’t focus on the horse as much as owner Penny Chenery, who is played by Diane Lane, in a fantastic performance. The movie begins in 1970 when Chenery is a housewife and mother living with her family in Denver. When her mother dies, she decides to go to Virginia to take care of her father and the family horse stables, which aren’t doing well.
Chenery hires a new trainer (Lucien Laurin, played by John Malkovich) to try to turn things around and soon after Secretariat is born, though he won’t get his name for awhile. The stables are in bad financial shape so Secretariat needs to win all his races, including the Triple Crown, which, at that time, hadn’t been done in 25 years.
The first hour of “Secretariat” is interesting as we see how Chenery sacrifices time with her family in order to learn the horse racing world. But once Secretariat hits the track and the racing scenes begin, the movie really gets exciting and your emotions start to grow. Even though I already knew how the big races were going to end, there were times my heart was beating as fast as the horses on the screen. That’s how Disney makes these true sports films work, and they’ve done it again.
All of the performances are great. Others in the cast include Kevin Connelly as a sports writer, Amanda Michalka (of Aly and A.J. fame) and Oscar nominee James Cromwell. And just like in Cromwell’s most famous film, “Babe”, this movie teaches that there’s always hope and determination is the key to success.
“Secretariat” is rated PG for a few dramatic scenes. It’s appropriate for kids 8 and up, and adults, whether you’re a a sports fan or not. You don’t have to know anything about horse racing to love this movie. But if you were alive during the early 70’s and remember these events happening in real-life you will especially enjoy it. Even though I wasn’t around then, I had a great uncle who knew Mrs. Chenery very well, which makes this film even more special to me.
On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “Secretariat” gets a B+.
Even though it didn’t get the Oscar attention I thought it deserved, it was one of the best family films of 2010.