We all know that movies based on true stories get fictionalized. It makes for better drama, whether the subject is the guy who invented Facebook or a racehorse.
Yeah, but still. When a large part of the movie’s impact depends on the “Wow, this really happened?” factor, and when the ads tout “the impossible true story,” the degree of fantasy grows more and more annoying.
And with the new movie “Secretariat,” you don’t have to know much about the horse-racing world to feel the hype.
Secretariat, the winner of the 1973 Triple Crown (er, spoiler alert?), was one of the most dominant thoroughbreds ever, a marvelous near-machine of power.
But this Disney production needs to position Secretariat as an underdog, the better to pull heartstrings. We need good guys and bad guys, we need insurmountable odds, we need things to be black and white.
And yet the true story is awfully good without those distortions and simplifications. Along with the tale of a horse, “Secretariat” is also about the horse’s owner, Penny Chenery (Diane Lane), who bucked a male-dominated system — both the horse-racing world and her own family. She was married with four children, but spent much of her time at her family’s stables in Virginia.
The movie, directed by Randall Wallace (“We Were Soldiers”), does nicely at capturing the atmosphere inside the horsey world. There’s a fascinating protocol about how Chenery’s father (Scott Glenn) struck a deal involving a coin flip with the owner of Secretariat’s sire, for instance — the future of horse racing hanging in the balance.
We also see the delicate negotiations involved in bringing a trainer (John Malkovich) into the fold. Malkovich wears a lot of garish costumes and hats, reminding us that it is the early 1970s, after all. Diane Lane, on the other hand, seems defeated by her lacquered hair, which sits atop her head like a blond beacon of the moneyed class, no matter how much the movie tries to convince us she’s a regular gal.
Watching the horses is pleasant, but the movie falls flat when it tries to pull a “Seabiscuit” and suggest larger social effects (and even religious overtones) of Secretariat’s success. Please — it’s enough that this was a great horse.
The approach is effective, in its way. When an audience applauds at the end of a race everybody already knows the outcome of, I guess the movie is working. But this movie’s jockey is riding with a heavy hand, not a light touch.
“Secretariat” 2 stars
The tale of the 1973 Triple Crown winner, one of the greatest racehorses ever. That should be good enough, but the Disney approach here turns the mighty Secretariat into an underdog and hypes up the heroes and villains of the tale with a heavy hand. Diane Lane stars as the horse’s determined owner.
Rated: PG for language
Showing: Alderwood mall, Cinebarre Mountlake Terrace, Edmonds, Everett, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Olympic, Stanwood, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall, Oak Harbor
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