This was a nice movie, a feel-good film, even if you knew everythingabout what the great race horse did back in 1973. Having read severalbooks on Secretariat, I was well familiar with owner, trainer, jockeyand horse but I was curious how Disney was going to portray them onfilm. They made a pretty, but very flawed movie.

Generally-speaking they did all of the major players favors by makingthem all - Penny Tweedy, Lucien Laurin, Ron Turcotte and Secretariat -look very good. Laurin and Turcotte, by the way, sounded and actedtotally different in real life. The worst hatchet job was on "PanchoMartin," the owner of "Sham," Secretariat's Triple Crown rival. In reallife, Pancho was nowhere near as arrogant and nasty as portrayed onfilm.

Although Diane Lane is fine as Penny Tweedy, I thought John Malkovichas the most interesting. (Malkovich has a habit of getting ourattention no matter what role he plays on screen.) As with most horsestories (i.e.Seabiscuit, Dreamer, etc.) these stories arebeautifully-filmed, as this Disney effort is no exception.

The only thing that bothered me was making the story primarily aboutMrs. Tweedy, instead of the horse. Calling Mrs. Tweedy a "hero," forsticking to her guns and keeping faith that Secretariat would turn outto be a champion is wrong, too. Excuse me, but a mother who stays awayfrom her three kids and husband for long stretches to tend to a horse,is not admirable, much less a hero. Her family is what she should havebeen concerned with first, not a horse. I'm not surprised Disney turnedthe story into feminist propaganda.

Yet, in all, being a horse racing and Secretariat fan, I enjoyed it.

Yet another reason why Diane Lane is one of the best actresses outthere, if not THE best. This is a near-perfect film with a classicstory of passion and pride, family and friends, hard work and nevergiving up, following your dreams and of creating a legacy.

I wasn't born yet when this real-life story took place. But the acting,the wardrobe, and honestly the strong message of family values takesyou back to that place in time that present generations are strayingaway from. Timeless storytelling in my opinion and Disney takes fulladvantage of it as they always do best.

All of the actors involved were great, especially Diane. Mr. Malcovichis always a pleasure to see in a movie. He has that special style. Andthe horse of course! I think they did well by splitting the movie intotwo main characters....the horse and the woman. After all its notsupposed to be a documentary. The races were exciting even though youknew what the outcome would be. And again, back to what I said before,Diane Lane is excellent at what she does. Just seeing a few frames ofthe film with nothing more than a look from her eyes....thats talent.

So go see this movie with the family. Go see Diane Lane because I'msure she'll get nominated for this role. 8 out of 10 stars. And CountryStrong looks like it might be good...in the previews of Secretariat.

I strongly disagree with some of my fellow reviewers! This isabsolutely not a film about the owner Penny Chenery. This is a filmabout the Greatest Horse That Ever Lived! Penny is naturally a part ofthis story, as is only appropriate. Make no mistake, if you watchedthis horse run the Triple Crown Live as I did, my heart thumping duringthe Derby, Preakness and Belmont, and the movie can elicit these sameemotions and physiological responses these many years later as it didback then... you've got a winner!!! Maybe it's not just for the kids!!!I venture to say there were more people in their 50's and 60's thenthere were children that relived the dream of watching this magnificentanimal! This is a must see movie. At whatever age, you won't bedisappointed!