I saw Secretariat tonight

[derbydanx]

I was lucky enough to attend an advance screening of Secretariat tonight. Diane Lane shines in her role as Penny Tweedy, and this movie is just as much her story as it is Big Red's.

Without going into too much detail, the producers definitely took some liberties with historical facts. Riva Ridge is noticeably absent from the film, even though he was a Derby/Belmont winner for those connections the year before. From a pacing and story telling point of view I can understand the decision, although I think including him would have really driven home the point as to how to difficult the Triple Crown is to win, with her having failed the year before.

The one thing that REALLY got to me though is that Sham somehow wins the 1973 Wood Memorial (poor Angle Light!), setting up some extremely painful boxing style press conferences between Team Secretariat and Team Sham prior to the Derby and Belmont. Real over the top stuff here.

I saw this with my girlfriend who doesn't have the racing background most of us here have, so none of the above bothered her, and obviously won't bother the vast majority of people who will see it. Almost everyone inthe theatre loved the movie, and it was definitely an enjoyable two hours. Just realize that dramatic license is part of the process, and even though it will stick out like a sore thumb to us, what we'll end up with is a horse racing movie that all America will enjoy, and engaging and educating new fans is probably more important than appeasing those few of us who can recall the charts of anyone of his starts. It hits every cliche in the book for sports films and horse racing films, but hits them well.

Definite recommendation, despite it's flaws.

[GinTalking]

I saw a story the other day about Penny Chenery where she said she was quite pleased with the movie, but it took some getting used to to see how she was played. Not that it was bad, but just different. She said she understood there would be poetic license taken. I get the feeling she thought she may have been made to appear as a candidate for sainthood and clearly didn't see her role that way. Or maybe it was the reverse.

I think she loved that Diane Lane played her .... pointing out that Diane Lane is much prettier than she ever was ... something to that effect. Who wouldn't want to have Diane Lane be your stand-in. :wink: [Note: In my life story, I'd like to played by Emily Deschanel, but that ain't happening. :grin:]

It's a movie so a lot of it won't be "real", but maybe when you are watching yourself on the big screen, you have to be thinking *I would have never said that* or *I didn't do that*. Must be weird to be in that situation.

I hope this is a little more realistic than Seabiscuit. Don't get me wrong, I thought Seabiscuit was a decent movie, but I hate when they say things like "he was training at XXX" and the track is so clearly not that track. As derbydanx points out, 99% of all moviegoers won't notice the difference.

[luvsgeldings]

oh oh... i am a HUGE Sham fan - did they somehow make sham look like a 'bad guy' in this movie? did Sham get any respect in the movie? i sure hope so - i loved that horse. but thanks derbydanx for the advance info on the film.

[Banshee Breeze]

Money talks and BS walks. That is why Penney is letting this Disney fairy tale to fly. She is being rewarded handsomely to allow Disney to use the Secretariat name. Can't blame her, the lady has to continue making money off the horse. It's just ashame that history always takes a back seat to Disneys hog wash.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Actually, I hope the pacing and approach is better than "Seabiscuit". The latter was stunted many times by *real* still photographs with the monotonic voice-over. Never mind I'm not too crazy about a lot of voice-over narration, anyway.

I also hope Sham's company wasn't too much of a "bad guy", as was War Admiral and Riddle. Riddle was no blowhard and contrary to the hype, he was NOT tops in the racing industry; just a wealthy businessman who liked horses. Basically, he had Man O'War and War Admiral. That's it. He was no Belmont or Calumet or even - dare I say it - Wheatley Stable. :wink:

As for Penny - the woman is full of class. I don't think there's much wrong with showing her as a saint because that's the face she puts on for the public, at least.

[Songofthesword]

i can see why they made sham win.

[carbonite]

[quote author=Songofthesword link=topic=42943.msg944511#msg944511 date=1273152133]
i can see why they made sham win.
[/quote]
Me, too. It allows them to avoid all the tawdry infighting between Tweedy and Laurin going into the Derby. I imagine that they pretend that didn't happen.

[SecretariatForever]

eh. I hate when they change facts like that.

And I think it's dumb they didn't include Riva. :angry:

[Stella19]

[quote author=Secretariat Forever link=topic=42943.msg944531#msg944531 date=1273154935]
eh. I hate when they change facts like that.

And I think it's dumb they didn't include Riva. :angry:
[/quote]

I do too. Reality is more interesting than fiction and in addition to not including Riva Ridge, Sham winning the Wood is just plain trite.

I did enjoy the Seabiscuit movie although aspects of it did make me roll my eyes, such as owner, trainer and jockey spying on War Admiral, who was portrayed by this imposing animal. I think a critic pointed out that War Admiral actually wasn't very big.

[bort84]

Well, if it's not quite as sketchy with the facts as Seabiscuit, I can probably get over it (weird when they make horses win races they didn't though, and probably not that necessary, but oh well). Are the horses at least well done? I get irritated when horse movies make noticeable errors with edits (horses don't look anything alike), equipment, behavior and such.

Who am I kidding though, I'll obviously go see this movie just like I did Seabiscuit, and I'll probably be highly entertained, haha. Plus, I love Diane Lane. I'm hoping I somehow have her genes and look that great when I'm her age.

[rokeby]

i also saw the advance screening this past weekend its a pretty good movie, some of it was just not true like when Penny Tweedy was there when Somethingroyal gave birth to Secretariat she was not there,
the farm manger Howard Gentry, his friend Raymond Wood and night watch man Bob Southworth were there when Secretariat was born

[WaquoitNBroadBrush]

[quote author=GinTalking link=topic=42943.msg944488#msg944488 date=1273139899]
I saw a story the other day about Penny Chenery where she said she was quite pleased with the movie, but it took some getting used to to see how she was played. Not that it was bad, but just different. She said she understood there would be poetic license taken. I get the feeling she thought she may have been made to appear as a candidate for sainthood and clearly didn't see her role that way. Or maybe it was the reverse.

I think she loved that Diane Lane played her .... pointing out that Diane Lane is much prettier than she ever was ... something to that effect. Who wouldn't want to have Diane Lane be your stand-in. :wink: [Note: In my life story, I'd like to played by Emily Deschanel, but that ain't happening. :grin:]

It's a movie so a lot of it won't be "real", but maybe when you are watching yourself on the big screen, you have to be thinking *I would have never said that* or *I didn't do that*. Must be weird to be in that situation.

I hope this is a little more realistic than Seabiscuit. Don't get me wrong, I thought Seabiscuit was a decent movie, but I hate when they say things like "he was training at XXX" and the track is so clearly not that track. As derbydanx points out, 99% of all moviegoers won't notice the difference.
[/quote]


I'm still ticked that Suffolk Downs got nary a mention in "Seabiscuit," when that was where Pollard got hurt. This looks like the same old Disney BS again -- "Miracle" with horses (and there was so much wrong with "Miracle" that it made "Seabiscuit" look like its screenplay was by Bill Nack.).

[second_glance]

Drama is not, and has never been, about factual truths. Good drama is about emotional or cultural truths. (Whether anything Disneyfied is good drama is a whole other question.)

Anyone who wants to know about the real story can always read a book -- or, more likely in this day and time, go online and read one of the scores of blog posts that are sure to be written detailing all the errors in the movie.

Meanwhile, I'm sort of marveling at the fact that in a span of ~7 years, we've had 2 major motion pictures and 1 TV movie made about racehorses and horse racing. With an indie film and a possible HBO series to come. Not bad for a dying sport.

[Noble]

Even stories of fiction, they alter it or dumb it down. Ever read a good book and then when you see the movie about it, you preferred the book? Happens alot.

If you want to see accurate and historical facts, watch a documentary. If you just want to be entertained, watch a movie.

I'm going to see it because I think Diane Lane is easy on the eyes. I thought the ESPN movie about Ruffian was well done. In Ruffian, I didn't realize at first that the actor who played Bill Nack was the same guy ("Brett&quot in Pulp Fiction. Ezekial 25:17.

Most horse racing movies are pretty relaxing because I enjoy the scenary and the musical score. I remember renting Ruffian from the public library and constantly played it for a week in the background while I surfed the web just because of the score. Luckily, Secretariat doesn't have a tragic ending. Popping a horse racing movie into the DVD and "semi" watching it is like playing golf to me. I never take it so seriously and only play it for the relaxation.

Among my guilty pleasures right now is this light-hearted comedy called Couples Retreat. I have played it every single day for the last few weeks. Terrible movie, but I don't care about the reviews. It relaxes me just seeing four couples have a fun time in a beautiful island like Bora Bora. Just an escape.

[bort84]

[quote author=second_glance link=topic=42943.msg944567#msg944567 date=1273158967]
Meanwhile, I'm sort of marveling at the fact that in a span of ~7 years, we've had 2 major motion pictures and 1 TV movie made about racehorses and horse racing. With an indie film and a possible HBO series to come. Not bad for a dying sport.
[/quote]

I'm curious, what HBO series might be coming out? That would be great. HBO tends to do a pretty good job with that stuff (currently loving their new series Treme, as I'm a former NOLA resident who misses it daily and also lived there during Katrina). Good stuff!

[BornToWin]

So what books do you recommend that tells the story most accurately? Or documentary films? Is there any footage from the 70's available somewhere?

[derbydanx]

[quote author=luvsgeldings link=topic=42943.msg944493#msg944493 date=1273146808]
oh oh... i am a HUGE Sham fan - did they somehow make sham look like a 'bad guy' in this movie? did Sham get any respect in the movie? i sure hope so - i loved that horse. but thanks derbydanx for the advance info on the film.
[/quote]

If you're a huge Sham fan, prepare to be disappointed. Sorry :/

[carbonite]

The HBO series in production is a David Milch vehicle, starring Dustin Hoffman. I think it's called Luck.

[second_glance]

[quote author=carbonite link=topic=42943.msg944600#msg944600 date=1273162455]
The HBO series in production is a David Milch vehicle, starring Dustin Hoffman. I think it's called Luck.
[/quote]

I know. But I'm pretty sure they are only producing the pilot at the moment; so as far as I'm concerned it's still a "possible" series.

[curtisw]

I was always a fan of Sham as well. In all the years I've seen three-year-olds come through Santa Anita, only Affirmed and Point Given were as impressive. Majestic Prince was probably as well, but I was pretty young then. Sham just wasn't as good as Secretariat, plain and simple. Making him a seemingly equal rival is playing with the facts just a little too much.