Running Free

Mr. Ed and Francis the talking mule put together didn't yap as much as Lucky, the ragamuffin equine orphan that incessantly narrates this utterly pedestrian parable about a foundling foal befriended by a similarly parentless 10-year-old stable boy in a South African mining town, circa 1914. Together they face a pandering, obvious and fidget-inspiring 85 minutes of adversity (heartless mine boss), rivalry (snooty purebred black stallion with a daughter sweet on Lucky) and World War I bombing. Russian director Sergei Bodrov (Prisoner of the Mountains) makes an earnest effort and shoots very handsome footage, but this hackneyed and tedious movie is for horse-crazed little girls only. Not a necessary purchase. (R. Blackwelder)