Secretariat movie in the works at Disney · 17.06.09

Diane Lane will play Penny Chenery-Tweedy in Disney’s production of Secretariat, it was announced last week.

While it’s great that this long-rumoured project is finally getting the go-ahead, and that Penny Chenery’s full backing and co-operation will hopefully help to minimize the inevitable “Hollywood-ization”, I have a real concern that the movie will not be what fans hope for. According to the June 12 press release, “The script, written by Mike Rich of Finding Forrester and The Rookie, tells Mrs. Chenery’s compelling story of a suburban housewife and mother’s rise to be the “first lady of racing” after taking the reins of Meadow Farm after her father fell ill.”

This suggests to me that, as historically accurate as it might be, the focus of the movie won’t be on Secretariat, but rather on Chenery. It will be the story of a typical American housewife who “finds herself”, leaving her old life behind as her new career supplants her family and marriage. Secretariat and Meadow Farm will be merely the catalysts for the story, rather than the story itself. If the catalyst was Chenery opening a restaurant, or running for political office, the story could remain otherwise almost unchanged. In other words, Secretariat might be a good movie, but it won’t be a Secretariat movie.

*Sigh*. I’ve always thought that the ideal Secretariat bio-pic would focus on the Triple Crown. Those three races, with perhaps the Wood Memorial as a prologue, would form a great story arc. In many ways it would parallel Homer’s Iliad, with Secretariat and Sham playing the roles of Achilles and Hector, respectively, and their human connections as the supporting cast, rather than the centre of the story. In this context, the 1973 Belmont would be equivalent to Achilles dragging Hector’s body around the walls of Troy.

I hope I’m wrong — I will still look forward to seeing the movie when it comes out — but I refuse to have high expectations.

Update: Read what other bloggers/fans think. Steve Haskin waxes poetic about his long-term crush on Diane Lane. The Internet Movie Database already has an entry.

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What do you think?

  1. Wonderful tough and smart lady who William Mack profiles in his great book about that time. She was NO one’s fool: the daughter of an emeritus professor of economics. Think it cost her the marriage however.

    — Dr. Timothy Yatcak · Jun 18, 10:15 AM · #

  2. oh no! I’ve been so excited about Secretariat – now my hopes are sinking

    — forenace · Sep 13, 09:18 PM · #

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