Movie Review: Running Free
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What Parents Should Know
Sensitive children may be upset by the cruel treatment of
horses. Many five- and six-year-old kids will love the horse's
tale, but parents may have to read the occasional subtitles.
Parents should be aware that the little horse nearly drowns,
gets separated from his mother, and then almost dies of
loneliness and neglect on the cross-continental journey. Also,
thirst, snakes, and Caesar, an evil black stallion, almost do
Lucky in when he is left to fend for himself in the desert.
When the town is bombed, the horses are threatened by fire.
Common Sense Media Review
Here's a movie about a plucky little horse that could!
Beautifully shot by Russian director Sergei Bodrov, the
Namibian landscape of South Western Africa unfolds in all its
splendor.
A-five-year-old boy sat rapt throughout, staring in wide-eyed wonder at the African scenery and totally caught up in Lucky's many traumas. He gripped his seat and rocked back and forth as the horse faced certain death on numerous occasions.
Unfortunately, the young viewer could not read, so he needed to have the subtitles whispered to him. For example, "twelve years later" is essential information if audience members are to figure out that young Richard has grown up and returned to the desert to find his horse. The same little fellow (somewhat inappropriately) laughed out loud at the little bare bums of the African bush children.
Even though the five-year-old enjoyed the movie, older children and adults will be put off by the redundant narration, which steps all over the hard work of the director. The endless and often inane commentary, voiced without passion by Lukas Haas, detracts from splendid visuals that tell a lucid story on their own. Given the fact that the producer is Jean Jacques Annaud, the director of the exquisite, narration-less The Bear, one suspects the hand of the studio.
Better children's movies about animals' travails include The Adventures of Milo and Otis and the classic Black Beauty.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
