What Takes Us to the Winner’s Circle?

[Mike Gange]

What Takes Us to the Winner’s Circle?

By Mike Gange 

Secretariat: The Impossible True Story
Directed by Randall Wallace
Disney Pictures

 

Actors Diane Lane and John Malkovich might just win an award for their collaborative movie performances this year. Unfortunately for both of them, they are upstaged by a horse.

Disney Pictures Secretariat is a historical recreation of the synergy that brought the Virginia racehorse from a surprisingly energetic foal to become the 1973 Triple Crown Winner. Horseracing’s “Triple Crown” is awarded to the horse that wins the races at the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and Belmont Stakes – three different tracks in three different U.S. states within a five week window. Only eleven horses have won the title, dating back to 1919.

Secretariat: The Impossible True Story begins as Penny Chenery Tweedy (Diane Lane) has to assume control of the breeding stables owned and run by her wealthy but ailing father. The complication for her is that her children and her husband are all in Denver, and running the stables means putting that life on hold, forcing her to separate from her family. In Virginia, she hires Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich), a talented but unorthodox trainer, a man with a horse racing past as checkered as his suits are colourful. Laurin, a French-Canadian, eventually brings in fellow Canadian Ron Turcotte to become the jockey to the soon-to-be-champion horse. Adding to the mix is groomsman/ stable hand Eddie Sweat (Nelsan Ellis), who understands the horse and is one of the few the horse seems to fully trust.   

Telling the story of a well documented horse racing champion is no easy task, and director Randall Wallace relies on the aspects of this unlikely synergy of wacky personalities and competitive attitudes to make the movie appealing and engrossing. Indeed, it is at times as dramatic as a ‘who-dun-it,’ although the end is never in doubt. Penny Tweedy has to overcome an old-boys’ network, denigration as a mere “housewife” and an overwhelming arrogance on the part of other owners in getting her horse to the winner’s circle. Her charm wins her friends and a loyal working relationship with her employees; when charm fails she digs deep into her character to deliver one of the movie’s most memorable lines. Faced with possible financial ruin, she shows her determination when she tells her brother and her husband “Life is not about breaking even, life is about using everything you’ve got to become a winner.”  Turns out she is as tough as a linebacker or a rugby player.

The real star in this movie, however, is the horse. His stable name is Big Red, a name groomsman Sweat never ceases to use, as he talks to the horse, constantly grooming and washing the horse, who seems to preen as he is rubbed or hosed down. To keep the audience enthralled with the horse, director Wallace has the camera capture the horse in a variety of enticing shots: lower camera angles to show the horse’s power; long shots to show how this horse stands out among others; backlit by sunsets to show the halo around the horse or close ups of the horse’s face, to bring to life the personality and the fire in its eyes. Not only is this incredibly effective, it is a novel way of story- telling that helps make the horse the front and centre star.

This isn’t just a “feel-good” story or a “champion-in-the-making” sports story. This is one of those rare Hollywood movies: a sports story that is compelling and magical without a victim, a scoundrel or a bandit. It also shows us that sometimes competitive nature and desire to win just can’t be explained, merely admired.