Limp 'Secretariat' is no 'Seabiscuit'

Director: Randall Wallace

Cast: Dylan Walsh, Diane Lane, John Malkovich, Fred Dalton Thompson

Cert: G

The stallion Secretariat was a great horse, winner for the first time in 25 years of the Stateside Triple Crown of races, with an unbeaten record … he deserves a better bio than this one-dimensional and over-sweetened effort.

For a much classier, feel-good story of a gee-gee taking on all-comers and against all the odds watch the wonderful 'Seabiscuit' again, it has more heart and a much deeper look at the humans involved in his triumphs.

The pity here is that a great story is hinted at and then left to flounder in the back paddock, for Penny Chenery Tweedy (Lane) did take over her ill father’s Virginia stable in 1973 without much knowledge of horse racing and against the odds and in the face of a male dominated world steered Secretariat to success.

But all of this is glossed over. While horses are always great to look at their story does need to be enhanced through the people associated with them, and they’re not served well here.

Star Rating: 2/5