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Just
when you thought John Malkovich didn't have another deranged performance left
in him, he has come storming back with another rare turn, as Lucien Laurin, the
mercurial horse trainer in this true-ish story about Secretariat, the Triple
Crown winner of 1973.
His pork-pie hat is supposed to tell you he is
French Canadian because his accent has no chance of letting you in on this.
Doing away with both would have been a smart move.
This is a movie about
supposedly the greatest ever racehorse, Secretariat. A troubling premise from
the outset if you know anything about horseracing. Redrum might be spinning in
his grave if he wasn't just laughing.
Now there is nothing wrong with
trying to reproduce a rare story, especially the great triumph of a great
horse, but it is very difficult to do. This film appears to be more about the
fortuitous owner, Penny Chenery, than the horse itself. Diane Lane plays the
character without a shred of real emotion for the equine champion or anyone
else.
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The best sporting
movies tell you about the stuff you don't see and how hard the stuff you do see
really is. Horseracing can be brutal, horse races can be rough and violent and
yet fantastically exciting when the racing is close. Secretariat the movie just
fails on all accounts to let you know the physicallity of the sport, the
tension of the punter or the hard work of the stable.
This film is
basically a stab at smulch and if you like to cry whilst watching movies then
rent E.T. as this will not do it for you either. |
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Bizarrely, and with
an incredible lack of appreciating reality, there is a twist to the DVD version
that I rented. After the film had finished along came three old reels of
footage recording the actual races in the Triple Crown and their live
commentaries. What do you know, they were actually exciting events to be at and
to watch on film. Jockeys actually had whips and used them, racing actually
took place. There was no way of knowing that from watching Secretariat. I got
my money back with those high quality clips!!
For charting history and 3
great film clips - 3/10 + Cinematography very accomplished |
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| Director |
Randall
Wallace |
Diane
Lane |
Penny
Chenery |
| Writing |
Mike
Rich |
John
Malkovich |
Lucien
Laurin |
| Cinematography |
Dean
Semler |
Margo
Martindale |
Miss
Ham |
| Film
Editing |
John
Wright |
Scott
Glenn |
Chris
Chenery |
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Nelsan Ellis |
Eddie
Sweat |
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