Woot! I had a mom’s night out on Wednesday thanks to Disney and a semi-local PR firm working with Disney. I am not sure why they decided to invite me to a screening of Secretariat but hey.. I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth, especially since this movie was about… a horse. Maybe someone read between the lines of my blog and knows I am a HUGE movie buff, despite only having reviewed 2-3 movies here. Or maybe they just know I love horses, either way… I thank them for the lovely experience.
In addition to getting to see a truly awesome movie, I also got to see it at The Gateway, which is a swanky theater near the Short North in downtown Columbus. Driving up the Short North on the way home as almost as wonderful as the movie. I simply love downtown Columbus and rarely get out to see it at night.
But on to the movie.. LOVED it! It is a wonderful family film with a great story and I was a bit skeptical at first. I come from “horse people” myself and spent my summers at a farm and my Aunt and Uncle’s stables. My family was involved in show horses, barrel racing, and cutting (what I call “dancing with cattle”). The picture below is none of those things though… just a trail ride in Arizona. Me… on a horse… no Old Spice, but I may or may not have smelled like a man. ;)
Distance horse racing always seemed kind of cruel to me and on some level I think it still is BUT this movie isn’t about some massive stable operation trying to make some money off their hundreds of horses and then discarding them when they don’t perform. It was about a small family operation and a horse that was a member of their family becoming what many believe to be the greatest race horse who ever lived. It was fun seeing it with my mom because she remembered when this all happened and how captivated people were by this amazing horse… Secretariat. I was amazed by how gutsy his owner was… Penny Chenery (played by Diane Lane). Seriously this little ol “housewife” was out making 6 million dollar gambles because she knew in her heart that this was the horse that could win the Triple Crown.
It is one of those movies where the audience claps insanely every 20 minutes or so. It is also very tense despite the fact that you know the outcome before you even go in. I was biting my nails the whole time. But it was very good and an A++ movie choice if you care to go anytime soon. Great story, great acting, and really great cast with a lot of my faves.. Diane Lane, Scott Glenn, John Malkovich, and Nelsan Ellis. It opens today.
I haven’t gone to see it yet, but I’ve promised my daughter we will go! We are also horse people. We own horses, show and my daughter is in Pony Club. We can’t wait to see it! I’ve owned a few former race horses and will own more when I have older children. There’s nothing like riding a Thoroughbred! The look of Eagles and the heart of a lion!