Almost everybody who has seen the movie Secretariat seems to like it, and I can see why. It’s a sweet story that leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy. Some of the camera shots are spectacular. The actress Diana Lane shows again why she’s Sandra Bullock’s main rival for the role of America’s Sweetheart.

Unfortunately for me – and for others who were actually there to witness the story as it unfolded in 1973 – the movie just didn’t work because it twisted and bent the facts far beyond the parameters of poetic license.

Nothing new there, of course. Hollywood has never been known to let the truth get in the way of a good movie. Sometimes it’s just annoying, but other times it’s totally unacceptable. And that’s how I feel about the Secretariat movie.

I’m surprised that Bill Nack, my friend and former colleague at Sports Illustrated, hasn’t put up more of a stink about it. He wrote the definitive Secretariat biography, after all, and is considered the source authority for all things Big Red.

The movie’s producers hired him as a consultant, which was a smart thing to do, but apparently they either didn’t pay attention to him or else Nack wasn’t as demanding as he usually is when Secretariat is the subject.

Here are my major beefs with the movie:

• One big reason for Secretariat’s popularity was that he came along precisely when America needed a hero. In the spring of 1973, the nation was jaded and angry because of the lingering Vietnam War and the unfolding Watergate scandal. So here came this incredibly handsome horse trying to become the sport’s first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. He was the hero the public needed. Unfortunately, the movie fails to put Secretariat’s Triple Crown into the context of the nation’s mood.

• There’s absolutely no mention of Riva Ridge, who won the 1972 Derby and Belmont for Tweedy, Laurin and Turcotte. More than Secretariat, Riva Ridge was the “big horse” that Mrs. Tweedy needed to pay her tax debts and keep the farm. Riva Ridge and Secretariat were so entwined that it’s unconscionable to tell the story of one without mentioning the other.

• To see the movie, you would think A.B. “Bull” Hancock Jr.,, played credibly by Fred Thompson, had only one son, Seth. But his older son and namesake played an important role in the Secretariat story. When Bull died and the trustees of his estate bypassed Arthur in favor of Seth, mainly because they felt Arthur was an unreliable playboy, it touched off a sequence of events that changed the thoroughbred business forever.

• At one point in the movie, Mrs. Tweedy and Bull Hancock are neighbors. When she needs advice, she just strolls down the lane. In real life, that would be quite a stroll, considering that Meadow Stable is in Virginia and Claiborne Farm in Kentucky.

• John Malkovich, who plays Laurin, looks and acts about as much like Secretariat’s trainer as I look and act like Bret Favre. The movie Laurin is tall, urbane, and sarcastic. The real Laurin was short, befitting a former jockey. He also was a nervous wreck, constantly fretting and ducking the media. He almost became unglued by the pressure. Had I been the casting director, I would have hired Danny DeVito. And speaking of casting, Seth Hancock was young at the time he syndicated Secretariat for a then-record $6.08 million, but he never looked as young as callow as the actor who portrayed him in the movie.

• Laurin also trained Angle Light, the colt that upset Secretariat in his last race before the Derby, the Wood Memorial. The two horses were coupled as an entry, meaning that a bettor collected if either or both finished in the money. After the Wood, Laurin should have felt conflicted, but he didn’t. He felt so badly about losing with Secretariat that he couldn’t take any pleasure out of winning with Angle Light. (Angle Light finished 10th in the Derby.)

• Needing a villain, Hollywood turned Frank “Poncho” Martin, the trainer of Sham, into something he wasn’t. Sure, he was passionate, competitive, and fiercely proud of his horse. But at no point was Martin ever as nasty or mean-spirited as he was portrayed to be in the movie. He and Mrs. Tweedy never had a press conference together. He never made sexist public remarks about her. His reluctance to embrace Secretariat was mostly a matter of his feeling that the public and the media were so in love with “Big Red” that they disrespected his horse. But Martin deserved better, much better, from Hollywood. He was the worthy adversary whose colt brought out the best in Secretariat. Trivia fact: Sham still owns the record for second-fastest Derby ever, behind only the horse that beat him.

• Instead of using Belmont Park as the site of Secretariat’s historic 31-length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes, Hollywood tried to turn Keeneland into Belmont, an impossible stretch of the imagination for anybody who has ever been to both tracks. Simply put, Keeneland is too small and confining to recreate the magic of what happened that day in New York. A mile-and-a-half around, with a monstrous grandstand, Belmont Park is the biggest track in the country. That made it perfect for Secretariat’s larger-than-life performance. It just didn’t work at Keeneland, even though the director pulled out ever cinematographic trick in the book. Nothing against Keeneland, but it’s too small, with too short of a stretch, to ever be confused with Belmont Park.

On a brighter note, I thought Ms. Lane did a credible job of portraying Penny Tweedy. The real Mrs. Tweedy, behind her blueblood pedigree and aristocratic good looks, was a tough cookie with a strong will and a sharp tongue. She did, in fact, tongue-lash Laurin after Secretariat’s loss in the Wood Memorial, his last prê-Derby prep, and she did, in fact, insult Edwin Whittaker, the owner of Angle Light, before the Derby.

I suppose I’m glad the movie was made and received so favorably by the public. I love the thoroughbred game, and, heaven knows, it needs all the positive publicity it can get. But I also hope that the public takes it for what it is – a Hollywoodized version of Secretariat’s story – instead of the real story.

Trust me, it’s another case where the truth is really far more interesting than the fiction.