Secretariat
2010
***
Director: Randall Wallace
Cast: Diane Lane, John Malkovich, Dylan Walsh, James Cromwell, Kevin Connolly, Scott Glenn, Otto Thorwarth, Margo Martindale, Amanda Michalka, Drew Roy, Nestor Serrano
When her mother dies and her father succumbs to senility, housewife Penny Chenery takes charge of the family's horse racing and breeding operations. She gambles everything on a promising foal who grows up to be Secretariat, one of the greatest racehorses of all time. This biographical drama is based on William Nack's 1975 book Secretariat: The Making of a Champion. The screenplay by Mike Rich and Sheldon Turner takes some liberties with the true events to create a formulaic and manipulative but entertaining portrait of a strong-willed woman and a strong-legged stallion. There are some strong performances, but also a number of cardboard characters and cringy clichés.
