Secretariat
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: October 8, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
14
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It is a great film about greatness, the story of the horse and the no less brave woman who had faith in him. Read full review
90
VarietyJustin Chang
Conventional but rousingly effective picture. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Grace is grace, and however it arrives, there's no denying its presence. Read full review
80
MovielineStephanie Zacharek
What you DO get with Secretariat is a picture that, unlike its bland predecessor Seabiscuit, actually captures some of the thrill of racing. Read full review
80
TimeMary Pols
This isn't a passionate, showy part, but it's a finely drawn performance, worthy of a veteran actress (Lane) who started her career as Secretariat did in the 1970s (in A Little Romance) and has since earned a champion status of her own. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
An engaging sports movie about the greatest racehorse ever and his female owner who literally bets the farm on his supremacy. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazinePete Hammond
Particularly impressive is veteran cinematographer Dean Semler's inventive cinematography that manages to put the audience right in the middle of the races like never before. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
It's tough to guess who will enjoy Secretariat more -- filmgoers who remember the extraordinary events of 1973, when the chestnut 3-year-old won the first Triple Crown in 25 years, or those for whom the story is brand-new. Read full review
75
ObserverRex Reed
This is one terrific movie about one terrific horse. It enthralls on so many levels-emotional, cinematic, historic. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
The result, if occasionally forced, is also irresistible. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
The period details are so exact they're occasionally distracting, the use of gospel music at the end is questionable, and director Randall Wallace (We Were Soldiers) shows a surer hand in the track sequences than the domestic scenes. Still, there's no denying this movie has heart. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill Goodykoontz
Secretariat was such a commanding presence, the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, a Time magazine coverboy, the focus of the public's imagination during his pursuit, that any excuse to relive that excitement is worthwhile, and Secretariat gives us one. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
A conventional story, conventionally told. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
It's all mildly uplifting in the way of an unchallenging sermon. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
This pleasantly rote movie will rouse you. Read full review
63
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike Scott
A reasonably well-made biopic, with crowd-pleasing moments, but one that -- despite that title -- isn't really about the animal. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter Travers
If it's hip to be square, then this racehorse movie is the ultimate in cornball cool. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The true story of the recordbreaking Secretariat is pretty stupendous as is. It didn't need schmaltzing up. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin Wilson
Only a heartfelt performance by Diane Lane rescues the film from abject mediocrity. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The story as a whole seems stale and overly familiar. Read full review
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
Secretariat ultimately delivers where it matters, in the home stretch. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Wallace layers on some era-specific meaning to Chenery, who seems to be simply following her lineage, thanks to Lane's quietly dignified performance. Malkovich is more fun, though Laurin isn't as outrageous as the movie thinks he is. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua Rothkopf
Lane, experiencing her career heyday, is sweet enough to have you rooting for her, even if her journey to the winner's circle is an odds-on favorite. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Secretariat shows no fear of the sentimental, and that's putting it mildly. This is an old-fashioned, super-genteel family movie that opens with an equine quote from the Book of Job and makes ample use of the Edwin Hawkins Singers' gospel song "Oh Happy Day." Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
The bigger and truer stars of this enjoyable, sometimes accidentally entertaining movie are the five horses that take turns playing Secretariat. Read full review
60
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
I enjoyed it immensely, flat-footed dialogue and implausible situations and all. Which doesn't stop me from believing that in its totality Secretariat is a work of creepy, half-hilarious master-race propaganda almost worthy of Leni Riefenstahl, and all the more effective because it presents as a family-friendly yarn about a nice lady and her horse. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
The film ultimately feels like a well-trod journey to a familiar destination with not enough wonder along the way. Read full review
58
Tampa Bay TimesSteve Persall
It's Lane who's saddled with dragging this nag over the finish line, with her cliched portrayal of another single-minded woman beating men at their own game. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Disney studios, director Randall Wallace, and his screenwriter Mike Rich, obviously targeting a "faith-based" audience à la "The Blind Side," lard the soundtrack with "Oh Happy Day" and readings from the Book of Job. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
When the movie climactically reproduces that exhilarating Belmont, the fiction is just a pale shadow of the fact, and the realized myth that lives in our memory dies on the screen. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Secretariat isn't bad but it's precisely what you'd expect. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleAmy Biancolli
In Secretariat, the fictionalized bits are simple exaggerations - broad, Disneyish adjustments in races and other realities. Read full review
50
SlateDana Stevens
Secretariat is a by-the-numbers sports-hero picture with an inexpressive hero (horses look great in motion, but they can't carry a close-up) and a preordained outcome. Read full review
50
Orlando SentinelRoger Moore
A well-acted tale of an underdog's triumph that sorely lacks an underdog, it teeters between pleasantly generic film biography and rank manipulation. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyNick Schager
At least the formulaic race footage itself is vigorous; the schmaltzy mythmaking script, on the other hand, deserves a one-way trip to the glue factory. Read full review
30
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Secretariat stumbles along beneath the weight of leaden life lessons. They're dispensed at frequent intervals by Diane Lane, who does better than anyone had a right to expect, since she is saddled with dialogue of exceptional dreadfulness. Read full review
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