I’ve seen two movies in the last three days, RED and Secretariat. Both were excellent. RED is your typical anti-gun Hollyweird crowd making big bucks using weapons we can’t have in ways only governments permit to their agents, but it’s a load of fun as a summer (now fall) blowup movie. Catch it at a matinee. It’s great.
Secretariat is what we expect from a Disney film – wholesome family entertainment. But remember when I wrote a couple of days ago about Capitalism TV? This is a capitalist movie. Rich people are not treated as evil. The “Death Tax” plays a prominent (if understated) role. And risk – real risk – is portrayed as something worth taking, not avoiding at all costs. As the main character, “housewife” Penny Chenery Tweedy says,
This is about life being ahead of you, and you run at it.
It’s the will to win, if you can, and live with it if you can’t.
It shows us what we as a nation have sacrificed over the last thirty-odd years on the altar of “self-esteem” with the abhorrence of competition. It is a very “tea-party” movie about people who are not ashamed to be bold, successful, and who are willing to take risks.
Besides that, it’s a well written, well acted, and well made film I strongly recommend.
UPDATE: Eric S. Raymond also highly recommends RED. Good review.