Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 1 Corinthians 9:24
Disney has done it again. Secretariat is a movie for everyone: there’s nothing really objectionable in it, it’s well put together dramatically, and it remains exciting up until the end. You won’t go wrong in seeing or re-seeing it.
Here’s the storyline: The year is 1971. Penny Chenery, aka Mrs. Penny Tweedy, is preparing dinner for her husband and children in Colorado when she receives a devastating phone call that causes her to drop a casserole on the floor: her mother has died. In the next scene we see her and her family at the funeral at Meadow Farm in Virginia. We soon learn that they can’t just go back home to Denver, for the Chenery family is famous for owning and breeding horses and is in some financial trouble. Penny’s oily brother wants to sell Meadow Farm to address the family’s money problems, but Penny will have none of it. She asserts herself mightily, entering into a deal with Ogden Phipps, a powerful horse breeder and representative of a group of investors. A coin toss for possession of two valuable foals is conducted, which Phipps wins. Everyone thinks Penny has gotten the wrong end of the stick, but she has an inkling that Big Red, her foal, will become a champion – and become a champion he does. Big Red, renamed Secretariat, eventually wins the 1973 Triple Crown and sets two records in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes that still haven’t been broken.
Strengths of the Film:
Acting: Diane Lane gives a strong and elegant performance as Penny Chenery Tweedy. John Malkovich gives a hilarious one as Secretariat’s trainer. James Cromwell is effective in his role as Phipps and Scott Glenn solid in his performance as Penny’s dementia-influenced father. The role of a family friend is well played by a certain candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 2008. I’ll leave it to you to figure out who that candidate was, but suffice it to say that he has an acting as well as a political background.
Production values: Secretariat is beautifully filmed. In my view it is superior to Seabiscuit, a horse racing favorite picture of some years back.
Dramatic tension: One of the marks of a well-made picture is a powerful script. We all know what happened in 1973, but we’re still on pins and needles in the fear that somehow, with the odds so heavily against him, Secretariat will not win the Triple Crown.
Reflection of Christian values: I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest that Secretariat somehow functions as a reflection of the Apostle Paul’s charge to “run in such a way that you may win.” Penny Chenery Tweedy believes in the validity of the race – as much hers as Secretariat’s.
One quibble: It is suggested in the film that Penny’s marriage and her relationship with her children suffer somewhat because she is away from their Colorado home so much. It all ends happily, but this aspect of the story deserves to be addressed more than it is.
Bottom line: This is one of the best movies of 2010, in my view.
Film Rating: PG
My rating: 3 ¼ stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment