BOLT

Jockey Kit Fielding's mounts are being killed with a "bolt" gun in this rather uninspired Francis. There are good guys and bad guys, and it's no secret as to which are which. Simon Prebble's narration also seems flat. Inner turmoil is read with the same matter-of-fact air as the descriptions of the steeplechases. Whether these races end in victory or a fall doesn't change Prebble's pace or verve; perhaps this is masculine rectitude. But he doesn't interpret the voices of the cast much either, except for the old curmudgeons whose voices are gravelly and low. The awfulness of the horses' deaths is indeed recognized, but only at the end might one be moved to bleary eyes. B.H.B. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/NOV 00]