There's nothing the cynic in me likes better than to be proven wrong. I admittedly was very wary of Secretariat. How can a film about a horse, even the greatest race horse of all time, be that interesting when everyone knows exactly what happens at the end. The answer is simple. Tell the story of Secretariat's owner. This film is really the story of Penny Chenery, a Denver housewife who will go down as the greatest owner in horse racing history. Her journey from her kitchen to winning the legendary Triple Crown is the stuff that dreams are made of. If you're smart enough, committed, and vastly underestimated by everyone around you; then you have the perfect formula for an upset. Penny Chenery was all the above. Played magnificently by Diane Lane, in her career best performance, this Denver housewife beat all the odds, much like her beloved horse.

The film begins in the early 1970's with the death of Penny Chenery's mother in Virginia. Happily married with children in Denver, Penny's father (Scott Glen) has succumbed to dementia and is no longer fit to run the family horse farm. She's despondent to find the state of the farm and business in disarray. While her husband (Dylan Walsh) and brother (Dylan Baker) plan to sell the estate, Penny has an appointment she cannot miss. Her father's mares are about to give birth, two foals, sired by a champion. The Chenery's would keep one, while the richest man in America / champion horse breeder - Ogden Phipps (James Cromwell) would get the other. They would flip a coin to decide who had first pick. Penny was her father's daughter, an expert breeder and equestrian. She deduced that the older mare would breed a racehorse unheralded. Ogden Phipps won the bet, but Penny Chenery got her choice. Her colt, and the people she chose to raise him, trainer Lucien Lauren (John Malkovich) and jockey Ronnie Turcotte (Otto Thorwath); would take racing and the world by storm in 1973. Winning the Triple Crown in an unmatched way, setting records that stand today and maybe for years to come.

Diane Lane may get Disney the Best Actress Oscar this year. She is so good as Penny Chenery. You root for her. She symbolizes all that can be done if you have the guts to go for it. Here is a housewife matching wits with the real good old boy club; arrogant, rich misogynist men who can't see past her looks and gender. Then you have her husband who sees this horse as an annoying pastime and wants her home full time with the kids. What Penny does is prove that she can do it all. That she can be a wife, mother, sister, friend, and racehorse owner. And that she can do it all well, without being defined by anyone else. I loved the empowerment aspect of this film. It's played out so beautifully by Lane and Director Randall Wallace. There's noting hokey or contrived here. In fact, I'd say it's quite realistic to the period. I can imagine the sneers Penny got...until her foolish choice horse started winning.

Secretariat has a PG rating, although I would have given it a G rating. This is a great film for all ages. It seems that only cartoons have been the good family fare lately, so I applaud Disney for making this film with the acting and filmmaking talent to pull it off. Randall Wallace, who won the screenwriting Oscar for Braveheart, hits a perfect note with Secretariat. It could have been an after-school special. But it succeeds grandly as a rousing and heartwarming film. There are some overt religious elements in the film. I'm pretty sure those references are targeted to the expected mainstream Christian audience. This, in my humble opinion, takes nothing from the film. I'm as atheistic as they come, but can appreciate art for its entertainment value. At the very least, Secretariat is a morality tale perfect for children. The world is depressing enough. It's good to see an uplifting film and walk out of the theater with a big smile. I'm sure Penny Chenery is still smiling.