'Secretariat' a Winner -- Lane Takes Thoughtful Approach in Old- Fashioned Film

Summary

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The more-or-less true story of a steel-magnolia housewife who follows her heart and defies the odds to build an athletic champion, "Secretariat" could be described as "The Blind Side" with a horse, a comparison that works only because of the earlier film's reductionist presentation of football star Michael Oher.

Like its similarly inspirational predecessor, "Secretariat" begins with voiceover narration from its lead actress. Instead of Sandra Bullock discussing Joe Theismann's snapped leg, we hear Diane Lane talking about Job, God and horseflesh. This establishes that, despite its title, "Secretariat" is not so much the biopic of "Big Red" (as the horse was nicknamed) as the story of Penny Chenery (Lane), the owner of the stallion the movie describes as "the greatest racehorse that ever lived."

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'Secretariat' a Winner -- Lane Takes Thoughtful Approach in Old- Fashioned Film

That may be no exaggeration. In 1973, Secretariat became the first Triple Crown winner since Citation in 1948, setting records that stand today and winning the Belmo...

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