It's not a bad movie by any means and Penny Chenery's story is worth telling, but, by making her the focus of the story and not Secretariat, the opportunity was lost to convey just how rare and special Secretariat truly was. The story focuses on Penny Chenery's dual life as both a housewife and mother in Colorado and as a suddenly new horse farm owner in Virginia after her mother and father pass away in succession. Diane Lane is perfect for this role and even resembles the real Penny Chenery. "Big Red" becomes Penny's horse after she "loses" a coin toss with Ogden Phipps, a wealthy businessman and horse breeder, and he picks the wrong foal of the two choices. She hires trainer Lucien Laurin played by John Malkovich who in turn hires jockey Ronnie Turcotte and the film transitions to the Triple Crown races of 1973. There was no effort to convey to the audience just how special Secretariat was -- yes he ran the races and we see the glory of them all, but the magnitude and majesty of just how special this horse was was lost in the film. The soundtrack could have done a lot more to remedy this but instead they played gospel music as Secretariat crossed the finish line at Belmont -- are you kidding me?
Review of Secretariat
