Good (not great) wildlife footage is weighed down by a flat, uninteresting story and perfunctory human scenes (Martin Sheen collects a paycheck). The leopard cubs are cute, Brooke Shields is gorgeous (she has my favorite female body type), but the film as a whole is a bit of a well-intentioned bore. **1/2 out of 4.

John Varty, a British wildlife conservationist living in Africa, co-produced, co-wrote and acted himself in this independent production of a conservation yarn shot in Africa and co-starring Brooke Shields. This was made in 1994, that is a few years before Shields' career would bounce back with TV stardom in the Suddenly Susan series and hence at a time when she was a largely forgotten ex-star. The movie is watchable if approached with low expectations. The basic premise of the story is very promising (a young female filmmaker making a documentary about a conservationist raising two orphaned leopard cubs) and yet it has been scripted in a very incompetent manner, with lame dialog, not-fleshed out plot developments, etc. The acting is also high school performance level, unfortunately especially in Shields' case, but you may never know if it is because of the incompetent script or of any inherent incompetence of Shields. Yet, real wildlife scenes with the cubs are outstanding and make the movie worth a view.Is Shields attractive in this movie? There is no intentional glamorization of her appearance here and I don't really like her bleached hair color at all. Yet, it is Brooke Shields in her late late 20s after all and you know what I mean. Plus, it is a nice bonus to see her intermingling with leopard cubs. By the way, Shields was no stranger to Africa, having ventured to a safari in Kenya for the TV series Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous in 1984.

This wasn't much of a story and Martin Sheen did probably the worst job of acting I've ever seen him do, but it doesn't really matter because the essence of the movie is the wildlife photography.John Varty, a British conservationist living in Africa, plays himself in this story of him raising two baby leopards and finding a home for them. Brooke Shields is an American writer looking to write about a story about it. She's just in the movie to show her pretty face and say, "Aww, aren't they cute?" That's about all she does, which gets a little annoying after awhile.Some of the photography is spectacular, with beautiful scenery and a disturbing scene or two (i.e. a crocodile trying to eat a water buffalo.) The language is very mild, with only three swear words, probably put in to get a "PG" rating.

Excellent animal adventure film in the tradition of Born Free and Living Free about an African conservationist who lives in a tree house and follows a family of Leopards for 12 years, and a Los Angeles filmographer who seeks to make his story known.