This is a genre that I have enjoyed throughout the years. Seabiscut. The Black Stallion. Even the comedy 'Let if Ride' is a personal fave.
Secretariats' film will never live up to the real horse, and while that's unfair competition, this film still has some basic pitfalls that kept it from being great.
The first problem lies in the films' poor character development. Outside of the lead character, Penny(Diane Lane), we're left with very little structure for the other characters. Dylan Walsh(Jack), Margo Martindale(Miss Ham), Scott Glenn(Penny's Dying Father)and Nelson Ellis(Eddie Sweat) are characters I would have liked to have known.
At the end of the film we get an update on the characters that were featured in the movie. In that brief written update we learn more about the characters than we did in the previous hour and a half. That's my first gripe.
The second gripe is with a couple of really cheesy and unnecessary scenes. One in particular where the horse is being bathed by the cast comes off as a blend between the car wash scene in Cool Hand Luke and your average Old Spice commercial.
The horse is beautiful, and I think 'Big Red' gets a pretty good representation on film, physically, and with the horse action.
Fortunately, the film also has it's strong points. Malkovich is delightful as the French-Canadian trainer, and Diane Lane does just fine. The race segments are a blend of actual footage and incredibly exciting recreations. When you hear Secretariat breath it's almost as if the audience becomes the horse. The best moments of this film are when Big Red is the only one in the shot.
I wish the film had chose either direction. Go all horse and accolades, and make it even more beautiful in terms of cinematography, or give us more in terms of Penny's acquaintances. I felt like this was a good film with a well defined climax, but the lack of character development and the inclusion of certain scenes that should have been left on the editing floor kept this from library/review potential.
More on the quality level of 'Dreamer' or other just above average true stories like 'Tucker'. In other words; marginally recommended.
You'll like this if you liked: Dreamer, Something to Talk About, Tucker, or The Rookie.
61/100
Secretariats' film will never live up to the real horse, and while that's unfair competition, this film still has some basic pitfalls that kept it from being great.
The first problem lies in the films' poor character development. Outside of the lead character, Penny(Diane Lane), we're left with very little structure for the other characters. Dylan Walsh(Jack), Margo Martindale(Miss Ham), Scott Glenn(Penny's Dying Father)and Nelson Ellis(Eddie Sweat) are characters I would have liked to have known.
At the end of the film we get an update on the characters that were featured in the movie. In that brief written update we learn more about the characters than we did in the previous hour and a half. That's my first gripe.
The second gripe is with a couple of really cheesy and unnecessary scenes. One in particular where the horse is being bathed by the cast comes off as a blend between the car wash scene in Cool Hand Luke and your average Old Spice commercial.
The horse is beautiful, and I think 'Big Red' gets a pretty good representation on film, physically, and with the horse action.
Fortunately, the film also has it's strong points. Malkovich is delightful as the French-Canadian trainer, and Diane Lane does just fine. The race segments are a blend of actual footage and incredibly exciting recreations. When you hear Secretariat breath it's almost as if the audience becomes the horse. The best moments of this film are when Big Red is the only one in the shot.
I wish the film had chose either direction. Go all horse and accolades, and make it even more beautiful in terms of cinematography, or give us more in terms of Penny's acquaintances. I felt like this was a good film with a well defined climax, but the lack of character development and the inclusion of certain scenes that should have been left on the editing floor kept this from library/review potential.
More on the quality level of 'Dreamer' or other just above average true stories like 'Tucker'. In other words; marginally recommended.
You'll like this if you liked: Dreamer, Something to Talk About, Tucker, or The Rookie.
61/100