"Wild America" is supposed to be a family-friendly movie set in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in the summer of 1967, and it becomes an exercise in futility with an unanchored story when one of them gets the hair-brained idea to leave home to shoot wildlife videos. Based on the life of the Stouffer family, I doubt anything in this movie actually happened. The teenage trio Marshall (Johnathon Taylor Thomas,) Mark (Devon Sawa,) and Marty (Scott Bairstow) convince their strict father, Marty Sr. (James Sheridan,) and opportunistic Mother, Agnes (Francis Fisher), to let them set out, on an adventure that takes through one slogging stupid scene after another.
Johnathon Taylor Thomas narrates the story of life on a farm in their town where adventure seems to be limitless. Their father is a carburetor salesman, who has a strict hold over his sons and their mum, takes in animals and fights to have her say. Marty doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps, and his father sees his son's ideas as "not paying the bills." Of course, he's going to be proven wrong in the end, but the problem is that we are not because it feels like a scripted story that we are supposed to believe happened, and it becomes clear that it didn't when Taylor Thomas rides on the antlers of a Moose.
Their days consist of putting their younger brother, Marshall through, increasingly dangerous stunts involving chairs and a pool of water so they can capture what they see as cutting-edge danger. Marty convinces Mark to go on the adventure when they discover a movie camera in the shop where they get their film developed. Their father staunchly says, "It's not happening!" and, no surprise, he relents in the next scene, and they set off in a 1957 GMC suburban, with Marshall stowing away.
They set off on their adventure, with their endgame being to find a cave of hibernating Grizzly Bears. The series of events they go through to get there is an excuse for attempts to set up dumb and dangerous scenarios that are unbelievable, including the one with the Moose. Their mother finds out Marshall is with them and seems to be okay with the fact that her fifteen-year-old son, is going to put himself in dangerous situations as long as his brothers take care of him. Think about that!
They find themselves in a swamp and in an attempt for director William Dear to create suspense with a spooky atmosphere, which works. What doesn't work, is the preposterous attempt to retrieve something from a tree, and one of the brothers comes face to face with an alligator. These are the dangerous situations that make the movie bogus because we know these teenagers are not going to get eaten, and whatever danger they find themselves in, they will get out of it because the script says so.
One of the stupidest scenes occurs when they drive onto a US bomb site, by accident, because they, are told it's "The Devil's Playground," and begin filming a wolf. A series of F-4 Phantoms fly over, spot the boys and start firing missiles at them, leading to a series of explosions in an attempt for the director to heighten the tension. A herd of wild Horses comes charging towards them. They make it to the truck, of course, they do, just in time to get the camera rolling even though, they almost got blown up and trampled. These teenagers don't see the danger in what they put themselves in, and I didn't buy it.
Danny Glover appears in the film as a strange man who saves Marshall from a waterfall after a Moose carries him off, and he tells the brothers they are getting closer to the cave, never to be seen again. On the way, they meet a woman whose husband was killed by the Bears. She tries to tell them it's a bad idea but, they don't listen, and they find the cave set up like something out of a horror movie complete with rattlesnakes guarding the entrance. The bears look like giant stuffed animals, and it's hard to take seriously when the movie explains they are in the "high country," which explains why there is snow on the ground, and the bears, are awoken from their slumber in the summertime to snarl and try to attack them.
"Wild America" means well and has some interesting shots of wildlife footage, and the three leads do an okay job. But the story is so phony, with them in preposterous danger. One of the dumbest scenes involves one of the boys breaking his leg, and in the next scene, he is hobbling on a crutch into the cave. Taylor Thomas flies a plane in the movie's final scenes. What does that tell you? Everything comes up short for an inflated adventure that doesn't feel real at any given time.
3/10.
Johnathon Taylor Thomas narrates the story of life on a farm in their town where adventure seems to be limitless. Their father is a carburetor salesman, who has a strict hold over his sons and their mum, takes in animals and fights to have her say. Marty doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps, and his father sees his son's ideas as "not paying the bills." Of course, he's going to be proven wrong in the end, but the problem is that we are not because it feels like a scripted story that we are supposed to believe happened, and it becomes clear that it didn't when Taylor Thomas rides on the antlers of a Moose.
Their days consist of putting their younger brother, Marshall through, increasingly dangerous stunts involving chairs and a pool of water so they can capture what they see as cutting-edge danger. Marty convinces Mark to go on the adventure when they discover a movie camera in the shop where they get their film developed. Their father staunchly says, "It's not happening!" and, no surprise, he relents in the next scene, and they set off in a 1957 GMC suburban, with Marshall stowing away.
They set off on their adventure, with their endgame being to find a cave of hibernating Grizzly Bears. The series of events they go through to get there is an excuse for attempts to set up dumb and dangerous scenarios that are unbelievable, including the one with the Moose. Their mother finds out Marshall is with them and seems to be okay with the fact that her fifteen-year-old son, is going to put himself in dangerous situations as long as his brothers take care of him. Think about that!
They find themselves in a swamp and in an attempt for director William Dear to create suspense with a spooky atmosphere, which works. What doesn't work, is the preposterous attempt to retrieve something from a tree, and one of the brothers comes face to face with an alligator. These are the dangerous situations that make the movie bogus because we know these teenagers are not going to get eaten, and whatever danger they find themselves in, they will get out of it because the script says so.
One of the stupidest scenes occurs when they drive onto a US bomb site, by accident, because they, are told it's "The Devil's Playground," and begin filming a wolf. A series of F-4 Phantoms fly over, spot the boys and start firing missiles at them, leading to a series of explosions in an attempt for the director to heighten the tension. A herd of wild Horses comes charging towards them. They make it to the truck, of course, they do, just in time to get the camera rolling even though, they almost got blown up and trampled. These teenagers don't see the danger in what they put themselves in, and I didn't buy it.
Danny Glover appears in the film as a strange man who saves Marshall from a waterfall after a Moose carries him off, and he tells the brothers they are getting closer to the cave, never to be seen again. On the way, they meet a woman whose husband was killed by the Bears. She tries to tell them it's a bad idea but, they don't listen, and they find the cave set up like something out of a horror movie complete with rattlesnakes guarding the entrance. The bears look like giant stuffed animals, and it's hard to take seriously when the movie explains they are in the "high country," which explains why there is snow on the ground, and the bears, are awoken from their slumber in the summertime to snarl and try to attack them.
"Wild America" means well and has some interesting shots of wildlife footage, and the three leads do an okay job. But the story is so phony, with them in preposterous danger. One of the dumbest scenes involves one of the boys breaking his leg, and in the next scene, he is hobbling on a crutch into the cave. Taylor Thomas flies a plane in the movie's final scenes. What does that tell you? Everything comes up short for an inflated adventure that doesn't feel real at any given time.
3/10.