You don't really watch historical sports movies to see The Big Game because you know that they win in the end. That's why they made a movie about it. Obviously, this isn't always the case but you know what I mean. You watch these movies for everything that happens before The Big Game, the trials, the tribulations, the human drama. There are winners in sports every single year, but not every team or person gets a movie. There has to be a compelling story behind it, which is ultimately Secretariat's biggest failing as a film, the story behind the races don't quite match the importance of Secretariat's feats.
Now this isn't to say I didn't enjoy the film, but I definitely noticed a strong taste of vanilla to it, which I understand completely being a Disney feel good movie and all. But the film takes no risks, doesn't tackle any issues, is safe and squeaky clean, predictable and without any attempts to stir up the viewer on any real level. It is what it is, a safe family friendly movie that doesn't really speak out much, but doesn't have anything bad to say either.
A movie about a racehorse is kind of interesting in that the movie isn't really about the horse, it's about the people around the horse, the owner, the trainer, the jockey, whoever. This movie is about their story, not Secretariat's. Secretariat may very well be the greatest race horse that ever lived, but it doesn't matter at all if the people around him don't have anything to say.
This movie is really about Penny Chenery, Secretariat's owner, whose tenaciousness and belief in her horse drives the film. I think it is a general rule in these movies that the more they talk about you not being able to win, the more likely it is that you will. If they describe something as impossible, it is a near certainty that the impossible will be done. And that is basically the entire theme of Penny's and thus Secretariat's story. You know exactly what you get in the movie and it's not quite so bad really, just don't expect anything more. Oh, and while Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973, his biggest accomplishment in my mind is producing one of the best sports photographs ever.
Grade: C+
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