WILD AMERICA

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: language and skinny dipping

Rated:

Unless you've been living in a hole in the ground, you've heard of Marty Stouffer. One of the greatest wildlife photographers in the world, Marty has his own story to tell... and it wasn't easy getting to the place where he is right now. Wild America is his story... or rather, the story of his kid brother Marshall. How much of it is true is unknown, although I have the feeling that most of the following adventure has been "enhanced" to make a good story. And a good story it is... in the form of a really tall tale. Marshall (Jonathan Taylor-Thomas) is your on-average teenage boy with big dreams and high hopes. His brothers Marty (Scott Bairstow) and Mark (Devon Sawa) are somewhat less than average... in fact, they're downright crazy. Their favorite project is entertaining their friends with their 38 millimeter home movies... most of which have Marshall in some dangerous position... being blown up, catapulted, chased, or drowned. 

The family is also excessively fond of animals... Mrs. Stouffer takes in any stray, wounded, or frightened creature and makes a home for it on the farm. And naturally, this love for God's creatures has been instilled in her boys. After a particularly interesting adventure, Marty and the boys go in to have their film exposed... and it catches their eye. A beautiful movie camera for sale, right off the local TV station's rack. Marty knows that with this puppy, he can make a fortune off his home movies. Mark and Marshall are caught up in the excitement and grudgingly their father agrees to lend them the money. But when a hunting accident goes painfully wrong, Marty decides that instead of hunting animals, he wants to film them. If he can get on camera the animals that have never before been seen on television, he knows he can make back enough money to pay for the camera.

At first their dad doesn't go for it... but with mom's intervention, he allows Mark and Marty to pack up for the summer and go in search of taping opportunities. What he doesn't know is that the boys have had enough of deer, bunny rabbits, and owls. They want to get on-tape the predators of nature... wolves, bears, rattlers, cougars, eagles... They set out with a whoop at their freedom that suddenly turns to an outcry when they discover, two hundred miles from home, that Marshall has tagged along. Suddenly, they've got bigger problems than paying for a camera. More than often humorous and a few times absurd, Wild America runs on adrenaline, keeping the audience on their toes... since they never know what might happen next. From a gator-infested swamp to the snowy mountains of Montana, these boys never seem to run out of adventure. There are encounters with wolves, snakes, wild horses, eagles, bears, alligators, and other predators, all filmed in that beautiful close-up quality of the real-life Stouffer. 

Particularly memorable is the montage of Wild America clips shown during the end credits... some of his most best-known and award-winning work. Yes, at times the film is corny and it tries too hard to be everything -- a comedy, a romance, an adventure, a family flick -- but it's enjoyable simply for its casting, storyline, and animals. Unfortunately, there are a few growling predators in the film itself that may keep some people at bay. Violence isn't much of an issue, since there isn't much of it (most of the violent content has people screaming and running away from very fake-looking predators); but viewers should be aware of a running joke that runs throughout much of the film. Mark has gotten his hands on a book full of gory bear stories and often reads aloud to scare his little brother. This includes some graphic bloody passages.

Language is also sadly an issue with many profanities, some vulgarity and a few limited abuses of God's name. Mark likes to ogle girls and makes a few mild innuendoes. They also meet up with a couple of Hippie girls in California and go skinny dipping. (Never seen except for a blurry distant shot, but Marshall videotapes the whole thing and shocks their mother with it later.) There's also a few crude jokes. Marshall has a nasty way of getting even without letting his brothers know about it. This includes scrubbing the toilet with their toothbrushes, and filling the canteens downstream from where they're innocently urinating. While the film won't appeal on a wide range to older teens, younger ones will probably be drawn in by the great adventure upon which the boys embark. Girls in particular will enjoy this one, if only for the pleasure of watching a nearly all-male cast, although the "college girls" back home make an appearance... and a memorable one at that. Fairly harmless except for the language, Wild America cites more on the side of irony than realism... but it's still quite a ride.

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