No, not the horses themselves but the movies.
I went to see Secretariat today with my Other Half and Best Friend who is also my riding companion. Firstly, I have to say that I’m rarely as happy as I am when I have these two people alongside me. What more can a girl wish for?
Anyway, being the horse enthusiast that we are, my mate and I had to go and see this latest horse race film. We both (separately) enjoyed Sea Biscuit and had hoped to have the same kind of thrill that we had from Sea Biscuit.
Sadly, this was not so.
Although the movie was good, I couldn’t help but feel that it was a little bit too Disney for my taste. Everything was so… Clean. The groom was clean, the horse was clean (and cleaned repeatedly), the stable yard w and the jockeys were… Clean with mud. I did some reading as well and realized that Hollywood and really gone wild with film embellishment and the story that they tell in the movie is almost nothing like the real thing (safe for the three wins of course, that’s a given…).
But, still – it had some good qualities and, don’t get me wrong, it was very enjoyable. They just didn’t show enough of the horse to my taste. But, they did show plenty of Diane Lane (who had won me over with Under a Tuscan Sun and Frida) and John Malkovich (who needs absolutely NO introduction at all) which made up for the fact that the film constantly managed to find moments in which the scenery would break into song.
It was… A story and a good one, based on the shadow of the truth.
Secretariat was an incredible horse. His record at the Belmont Stakes still stands today and I’m pretty sure that his offspring’s offspring still perform out there in the racing world.
But, if you were expecting Sea Biscuit’s performance, you will be sorely disappointed. The beauty of the horse was sadly spoiled by the sweetness of Disney.
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