Secretariat

I saw Secretariat last weekend and loved it. OK the story has been completely Disney-ized and racing sequences are a bit forced, but the general idea that a horse can take us all to places where we like to be is one that I heartily endorse. Diane Lane was great and it was a nice touch to have the real Penny Chenery appear in some crowd shots.

Of course, they tie it all up rather neatly in a Triple Crown package, but you did get the sense of pressure that every owner, trainer and jockey is under when they race at that level. Although it seems like the whole world is watching--in Secretariat's case they were--it usually is just the horse world that is so focused on your every move.

And there really is a Belmont Ball, the night before--I have been there--but it is held in the city and Belmont track is not exactly a hop skip and jump away so the scene where Diane Lane contemplates the track in her ball gown is a bit over the top. But who knows? Maybe she stayed track side and make the trek to the city not vice versa.

In any event, it got me thinking about the potential of a Barbaro film and I don't think it is going to fly at this point because of the lack of happy ending. What we need for it to fall into a Disney like package is for one of his siblings to redeem him and then what a story that is.

Until that happens, however, there are too many unknowns in the story. It is hard to make a movie about a horse that could have won the Triple Crown when it took twenty years to make one about a horse that did.

In any event, go see it. I don't think you will be disappointed.