Secretariat

We went to a preview of Secretariat while in Vegas. You can't go wrong with a Horse Movie, but they came close. About twenty minutes into it, after having a portion of The Book of Job read and two negro spirituals sung, a cold chill ran down my spine. I thought "this is a Christian movie", is a guy going to get up out of his wheel chair and give the field goal sign with his arms when the horse wins the Triple-Crown? John Malcovich overacted a bit as the eccentric trainer. Diane Lane really stepped up in her performance as the daughter trying to save the family horse farm during the 60's cultural revolution. She usually plays a ho or a home-wrecker.

Hollywood could have done so much more with this script. They could have had Lane having an affair with the trainer, the rebellious daughter getting pregnant, the neglected husband coming out etc. However, the story was about the horse. Aside from some clunky dialogue, the movie worked. My favorite line was "in horse racing there are no excuses." That is so much different than today where all we get are excuses. It is a good family film that comes up to the edge of Christian silliness. I give it four stars.