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Diane
Lane stars as Penny
Chenerey
in
Secretariat,
a sports movie from
director Randall
Wallace- who did
some work on
The
Blind Side.
Secretariat
tells the story of a
horse that’s
considered by many
to be the best
race-horse of all
time. It tells the
story remarkably
well, with some
great insight into
the life of his
owner Penny Chenerey
and it also has some
fantastic race
footage. Secretariat
was a freak of
nature when it came
to horses. Both of
my parents grew up
with and around
horses and they
always talked about
Secretariat as a
God-like creature
that ran on gold.
After seeing this
movie and the bonus
features, you can
really understand
why.
Penny
Chenerey was just a
typical house wife
in Denver, CO. She
did the laundry,
cooked the meals,
and was an excellent
mother to her four
kids. When she
received a call to
go home to her
family’s ranch after
her mother had
passed away, her
life changed
drastically. She had
to go back home to
Virginia to take
care of her family's
horse ranch as well
as her ailing
father. She rose to
the occasion and
saved the ranch
through a lot of
grit and by
discovering a horse
named
Secretariat.
She won the horse in
a coin toss, but
really she lost the
toss and got the
horse she wanted.
Two mares were
impregnated by a
stud horse named
Bold Ruler. Penny
had a feeling about
the bloodline of one
of the mares that
wasn’t the obvious
choice, but right
off the bat she knew
Secretariat would be
a fantastic horse.
He went on to win
the Triple Crown
which no horse had
done in
years
and no horse has
done since and he
won The Belmont
Stakes, the last
race for the triple
crown, in record
breaking fashion, by
31 lengths. Penny
Chenerey, a
housewife from
Denver, set the
horse racing world
on fire with her
consolation horse
and she did it with
her trainer, her
groomer, her
secretary, and her
family.
Secretariat
isn't the first
horse-racing movie
to be made but it
might be the last
one to be made in
awhile. That's not
just because they're
running out of
horses to make
movies on, but
because Randall
Wallace did a
tremendous job with
this movie. I wasn't
a fan of how he did
all of the racing
footage (he showed
one race just by
showing Chenerey's
family watching it
instead of the race
itself), But when
you look at the
movie as a whole and
what he did he gets
major kudos. The
main reason why is
due to the
cinematography and
the lighting that he
used to capture a
story that took
place in the early
70's. The cast of
this movie isn't a
huge-profile cast,
but Diane Lane
played Penny
Chenerey and the
lead role very well.
And John Malkovich
played the role of
Secretariat's
trainer Lucien
Laurin great too.
The bonus features
on Secretariat are
great. Although
Randall Wallace's
interview with Penny
Chenerey is one of
the corniest things
I've seen in a bonus
feature (on his
part), there is some
good information in
the interview. The
interview feels a
little scripted
which makes it hard
to enjoy. The
coolest feature is
the ability to watch
Secretariat's record
breaking run at The
Belmont with
different
commentary. Horse
racing fans will
appreciate that
feature more than
the movie itself,
(they'll love the
movie too though.)
Secretariat
told a great sports
story that wasn't an
underdog story. The
ability for Wallace
to pull off a sports
movie like this is
deserving of some
high praise. I've
always wanted a
movie to be made
about this race
horse after seeing
Seabiscuit,
and I wasn't let
down with this
effort.
Secretariat
is a
can't-miss family
night movie that
everyone will enjoy
and one that you can
watch over and over.
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