Forget about the horse. The real prize-winner in Disney's "Secretariat" is Diane Lane.
The versatile actress makes a run for Oscar roses as Penny Chenery Tweedy, an unlikely icon of the '70s horse-racing world. Lane brings the incandescent beauty of Tippi Hedren and the acting grace of Ellen Burstyn to her role as a cooks-and-cleans housewife who emerges as the surprise owner of a 1973 Triple Crown winner.
Even when "Secretariat" wobbles like a newborn foal -- a cheesy opening drips with NutraSweet, and strained relationships are resolved too patly -- Lane takes the reins and gallops this baby over the finish line.
In tone and intent, "Secretariat" shares the DNA of "The Blind Side," last year's megahit. Each takes cues from the real world and presents families with a neatly packaged inspirational feature anchored around a strong female character with convictions and moxie to spare.
Yet "Secretariat" is also cut from the Disney sports-movie cloth, with facts tailored to ensure the studio has a crowd-pleaser. No matter. This is a rousingly entertaining and robustly acted movie with electrifying horse-racing sequences filmed from the jockey's perspective. Now, how cool is that?
Director Randall Wallace ("We Were Soldiers") and screenwriter Mike Rich ("The Rookie") take a marginal risk by focusing on their heroine's pluck and her resolve to make her name in a male-dominated sport rather than spending more time on Big Red -- aka Secretariat -- the trophy horse Penny wins in a coin toss. That might not appease the "My Friend Flicka" crowd, but I appreciated the more-human, less-equine story.
Penny's entry into the boys' club of horse racing occurs as the country's on the cusp of change over war, sex and gender roles.
She doesn't realize it, but her actions challenge the status quo of what a woman can achieve as she tries to save her ailing father's Virginia stables. As played by Lane, Penny comes across as driven and practical, but someone not above using her charms to get what she wants. Whether she's bursting into a "gentlemen-only" club or wittily responding to a lame put-down about being a housewife, Lane stays as true and steadfast to her character as her Aqua Net hair.
