(Diane Lane, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...)
CAST: Diane Lane, John Malkovich, Dylan Walsh, Scott Glenn, Margo Martindale, Fred Dalton Thompson, Nestor Serrano, Drew Roy, Nelsan Ellis, Kevin Connolly.
DIRECTOR: Randall Wallace
NOTE: Minimal SPOILERS and the lovely, lovely, lovely, lovely Diane Lane - right up ahead...
Saying it right now: if Diane Lane doesn't get an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actress, I am going to deliberately step barefoot into a pile of horse shit.
Okay, maybe I won't. However, I will be supremely disappointed if Ms. Lane doesn't get the recognition she deserves for her riveting and bravura turn as Penny Chenery, the Denver housewife who took over her parents' horse-breeding farm after her mother died - only to eventually find herself the proud owner of a fast, feisty, and fiery diva of a chestnut colt soon-to-be named Secretariat. This showboat of a horse would go on to break national records, culminating in a show-stopping sweep of the three most important races in horse-racing in 1973: The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness Stakes, and The Belmont Stakes.
At the outset, Penny (a luminous Lane) is your average wife whose primary concern in the morning is whipping up flapjacks for hubby, Jack (Dylan Walsh), and their three kids. Unfortunately, a phone call that most of us hope we'll never get interrupts their chaotic breakfast, Penny drops a bowl full of batter on the floor - and, just like that, life will never be the same again. Penny's mother has passed away, and the family is on the next flight to Virginia where Penny's parents own a horse-breeding stable.
At the funeral, Penny learns from Miss Elizabeth Ham (Margo Martindale), the stable's secretary, that her father (Scott Glenn) has been exhibiting signs of dementia, making the prospect of him taking over the business a questionable proposition - to say the least. Staying behind at the stable for a few days while she sends Jack and the kids home, Penny bonds with Miss Ham and Eddie Sweat (Nelsan Ellis), a horse hand. When she learns that the stable's trainer, Carl Hatton (Graham McTavish), basically allowed the mentally-impaired Mr. Chenery to almost sell four of his top horses at half the price (and possibly because of financial self-interest), Penny summarily fires him and goes on the hunt for a new trainer.
Enter Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich), a washed-up horse trainer trying to cope with retirement by learning how to play golf. Except he's even worse than me at it, which is like saying that someone is worse than Andrew Hung at singing. At any rate, Lucien strenuously resists Penny's offers of employment. In the meantime, during a "coin toss" which is apparently de rigueur in the horse breeding world, Penny wins ownership of a foal from a mare named Something Royal. Penny's secretly relieved that the toss turned out this way, because she believes that Something Royal's lineage, coupled with her sire's, indicates that the foal might be a perfect combination of stamina and speed.
Turns out she's right. And the rest of the film chronicles just how right she is. Needless to say, Lucien has a change of heart and shows up for the foal's birth. To their amazement, the foal practically leaps to its feet within a few minutes of being born - something that both Lucien and Eddie say they've never seen in any foal before. Displaying an amusing blend of feisty fire and cool self-assurance, the horse definitely has personality - and is eventually named Secretariat.
Soon, Secretariat is winning races left and right. However, these endless victories serve as somewhat bittersweet rewards due to the trials that Penny faces along the way: (1) her father's death from a sudden stroke, (2) her husband's growing disapproval of the time she spends away from her family while tending to the horse business, and (3) the frankly unwelcome atmosphere that she finds in the male-dominated horse-racing biz. Eventually, Penny makes a, as she puts it, "multi-million dollar, all-or-nothing bet" on Secretariat: she's placing him in the Triple Crown Derby.
The conclusion is foregone, as history can attest to; however, the pleasure of SECRETARIAT lies in taking us along on the journey to that destination. Let me just say this: at the end of the screening I attended in Seattle (one of the first across the country leading up to the film's October release date) the entire audience broke out into applause. And with good reason. I guess that is the review in itself....
MY TAKE: In the review for MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING (review # 40), I wrote that Julia Roberts is peerless when it comes to expressing emotion without uttering a single word. I was very wrong, and deserve to be flogged for my mistake - Diane Lane is her peer. And how could I have forgotten that? In fact, I dare say that - GASP! - Ms. Lane even exceeds her in this department. Cue the hate emails... No disrespect, Julia fans. I love her just as much. It's just that Diane Lane is simply.... transcendental. I didn't think she could top her lovely, emotionally-transparent performance in UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN - but I was wrong. She does so here.
SECRETARIAT could easily be described as another entry in the ERIN BROCKOVICH/THE BLIND SIDE genre of True Stories Of Women Who Kicked Ass And Took Names, but that would be selling this movie very short. What's interesting about SECRETARIAT is that its heroine, the real-life Penny Chenery, doesn't wear her toughness on her sleeves the way that Erin Brockovich and Leigh Anne Tuohy did. And Diane Lane does not deliver the type of "look-at-me!" performance that Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock did, however effective and Oscar-winning. Nope, Ms. Lane emphasizes Penny's gentle and pliant side - so much so that when her fire surfaces, it is a surprising and utter delight. She makes what she doesn't say even more compelling than what she does - which is pretty interesting already. Penny Chenery in the hands of Diane Lane is nothing if not a revelation.
The rest of the cast is uniformly excellent. John Malkovich as Lucien is a perfect live-wire foil for Penny's genteel composure. They make a potent pair that you can't help but root for, and Malkovich nails some very funny lines. Dylan Walsh as Penny's husband is also responsible for one of the film's most rewarding character arcs - from initially-disapproving to slowly realizing his mistake in not supporting his own wife. Indeed, the scene where Jack apologizes to Penny for his initial lack of belief in her quest - and Penny's heartbreakingly beautiful non-verbal reaction to it - is one of the film's highlights. I dare you not to tear up at this scene - and scores of others. The common thread is Diane Lane's luminously expressive face - which truly has a language of its own. Fred Dalton Thompson, Nelsan Ellis, Kevin Connolly, Scott Glenn, Margo Martindale, and Nestor Serrano all score in their vivid roles, and provide solid support to Ms. Lane and Mr. Malkovich.
While SECRETARIAT appears to be a sport film on the surface, it's really about a woman finally given the chance to run a race - figuratively speaking - and never quitting until she's finished it. While the idea of women forging their way through the world and fighting personal and professional battles may be a commonplace theme in this day and age, imagine how it was for a woman from the early 70's trying to survive in a business dominated by men eager to see her fail - and trying to keep her family together at the same time. In some ways, that makes SECRETARIAT an even more remarkable story - remarkable because it really happened. Remarkable because its heroine is an ordinary woman who dared to chase the extraordinary.
Seriously, come next January, if I don't see Diane Lane's name in the list of Academy Award Nominees for Best Actress, I will really wonder if there's any justice left in the world.
