"Secretariat," the movie

I remember the old man telling me he went to watch it work out at Woodbine - along with 5,000 other people, probably a bigger crowd than they get during the week at that place these days.

 

The ticket from the last race:

 

Damn, didn't realize Secretariat ranked up with Gene Simmons in terms of shilling merchandise.

Was going to go see the movie, but after reading this thread, I may not.

If I do and I am disappointed, I'll just come home and pull up the youtube link Devil posted, and re-live the most perfect sporting performance I will ever see in my lifetime.

 

Bart Simpson once found a baseball made out of Secretariat.

 

I don't know. That sounds kind of cool too.

 

Apropos of virtually nothing, my wife and I had the good fortune to attend the official Kentucky Derby pre-race party at Churchill Downs in the late 90s.

Through the course of the evening, my wife got blissfully drunk and she saw Ron Turcotte, who of course was later paralyzed, in his wheelchair across the room from us.

Blitzed to the hilt, she was dumbfounded and she asked me, "How did he ride Secretariat in his wheelchair?"

 

Moddy, we got a guy whose dominant art in his office is a very, very short (vertically), very very long (horizontally) photo of Secretariat in the stretch at the Belmont. Thing is probably foot deep and 8 feet long. I'll try to steal it for you.

 

Know I have to see it -- though how they have Laurin/Malkovich dressed
in the trailers is such an insult to human memory and intelligence on
multiple levels that the movie's behind the eight ball to me before I
sit down. It's Disney, I know . . . it's Disney.

Simpletons.

 

The screenwriter also did "Miracle," "Invincible," "Radio" and "The Rookie," so I'm guessing it's ... how you say ... formulaic.

Review from The Lexington Herald-Leader, which knows from horseracing:

http://www.kentucky.com/2010/10/07/1468898/secretariat-big-reds-story-is.html

 

Uhh uhhh. Chenery doesn't get off that easy. When it became apparent the story was being completely fabricated, SHE could have scotched the deal -- told Disney she wouldn't cooperate if the focus of the movie was completely diverted from Secretariat.

I have no particular animosity toward Chenery, but even back in 1973 I got sick and tired of the continuous cutaways to her during the races. See the clip of the Woodbine way up the thread: Majestic, awe-inspiring footage of Secretariat thundering down the track, and every 20 seconds we get a cutaway of Carol Brady.

Basically Chenery is analogous to the college professor played by Stellan Starsgaard in "Good Will Hunting," trying to hitch a ride on a celestial phenomenon.

And as Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) summed it up, "It's not about YOU, you (mathematical/stable owner) fuck!"

I guess it's better that they made this movie than no movie at all, but a whole generation of viewers are going to have no idea what it was like to see Secretariat.

 

water-keyboard.